Wilson Rutherford "Bud" Schwenk Jr. (August 26, 1917– October 1, 1980) was a professional

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

who played four seasons for the

Chicago Cardinals The professional American football team now known as the Arizona Cardinals previously played in Chicago, Illinois, as the Chicago Cardinals from 1898 to 1959 before relocating to St. Louis, Missouri, for the 1960 through 1987 seasons. Roots ca ...

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

Baltimore Colts The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team that played in Baltimore from its founding in 1953 to 1984. The team now plays in Indianapolis, as the Indianapolis Colts. The team was named for Baltimore's history of horse breed ...

, and

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

. Schwenk grew up in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

and attended

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

, where he starred on the

Washington University Bears football The Washington University Bears football team represents Washington University in St. Louis in college football. The team competes at the NCAA Division III level as an affiliate member of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW). ...

team. He set numerous college football records for passing in the 1941 season, his senior year. After college, Schwenk played one season for the Cardinals in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL), before leaving to serve for three years in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Upon his discharge, Schwenk joined the

, a team under formation in the new

All-America Football Conference The All-America Football Conference (AAFC) was a professional American football league that challenged the established National Football League (NFL) from 1946 to 1949. One of the NFL's most formidable challengers, the AAFC attracted many of the ...

(AAFC). After one season with the Browns during which the team won the AAFC championship, Schwenk was traded to the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

and then to the Colts before the start of the 1947 season. He went on to have his best year as a player, setting a professional football record for passing attempts in a season. Despite his success, the Colts put Schwenk put out on waivers, and he was picked up by the

, where he played for one year before leaving football. After his playing career, Schwenk spent 30 years as an executive in St. Louis at

Junior Achievement JA (Junior Achievement) Worldwide is a global non-profit youth organization founded in 1919 by Horace A. Moses, Theodore Vail, and Winthrop M. Crane. JA works with local businesses, schools, and organizations to deliver experiential learning ...

, a national

nonprofit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

that prepares young people for the workforce. He served as the chairman of Missouri's state athletic commission in the 1970s and was on the board of the St. Louis

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. He was inducted into the Washington University sports hall of fame in 1991. His jersey number 42 is the only one retired by the school's football program.

High school and college career

Schwenk was a native of

and attended the city's Beaumont High School. A three-sport athlete, he became a star halfback who both threw forward passes and ran with the ball at

. He played for the

team, starting as a junior in 1940. He set a college football record the following year by running and passing for a combined 516 yards in a single game. He surpassed a three-year-old college record for completed passes in a season later in the year, with 114. He passed and ran for a total of 1,628 yards.

Professional career

Schwenk was recruited by professional football teams and was drafted by the

of the

at the end of 1941. That December, he said he had abandoned plans to play in the

because of

. Nevertheless, he played for the Cardinals during the 1942 season. He broke the NFL record for most passes completed in his first season, although the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

Davey O'Brien Robert David O'Brien (June 22, 1917 – November 18, 1977) was an American football quarterback. He played college football at Texas Christian University (TCU) and professionally in the National Football League (NFL) with the Philadelphia Eagle ...

also broke the record and beat him with 146. Schwenk did not play between 1943 and 1945 as he served in the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

during the war. Following his discharge from the Navy, Schwenk signed with the

of the new

. Limited by an ankle injury, Schwenk played sparingly for the Browns in the 1946 season, substituting on occasion for

Otto Graham Otto Everett Graham Jr. (December 6, 1921 – December 17, 2003) was an American professional football player who was a quarterback for the Cleveland Browns in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and National Football League (NFL). Graha ...

. The Browns won the AAFC championship that year. Schwenk was traded to the

for fullback Jim Thibaut early in 1947. The Bills then sent him to the

in August. With Baltimore, Schwenk had the best season of his career, passing for 2,236 yards and throwing 13

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

s. Down by five points in a game against the Bills in October, Schwenk threw a last second completion to Lamar Davis, who caught it but was ruled out of bounds a foot outside the end zone. Officials allowed the game clock to tick down to zero, giving Buffalo the victory as the Colts argued that it was a score. A near-riot broke out after players began shoving each other and spectators came down on the field. In November, Schwenk bested his own professional football record, set while with the Cardinals in 1942, of 295 passing attempts in a season. The Colts, however, put him out on waivers after the season, and he was picked up by the

. Schwenk played for the Yankees in 1948 before leaving professional football.

Later life

Schwenk began work in 1950 as the

chief operating officer A chief operating officer or chief operations officer, also called a COO, is one of the highest-ranking executive positions in an organization, composing part of the "C-suite". The COO is usually the second-in-command at the firm, especially if t ...

of the Mississippi Valley branch of

, a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

that prepares young people for the workforce. He stayed at Junior Achievement for 30 years. He engaged in civic organizations in St. Louis, and was on the board of the city's

. He also was a director and founder of the Spanish Lake Bank & Trust Company. Between 1971 and 1975, he was chairman of the Missouri State Athletic Commission. Schwenk died in 1980. He was inducted into the Washington University Sports Hall of Fame in 1991, and his number 42 jersey is the only one retired by the Washington Bears.

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