{{Short description|American football player and discus thrower (1884–1971)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}} {{Infobox CFL biography |name=John Messmer |image=John Messmer.jpg |birth_date=September 25, 1884 |birth_place= |death_date={{Death date and age|1971|11|8|1884|9|25}} |death_place=Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S. |Position=Guard |College=Wisconsin |career_highlights = * Second-team All-American (1908) * First-team All-Western (1907) |Awards= |Honors= |DatabaseFootball= |years= |teams= |CollegeHOF= |HOF=}}
'''John Messmer''' (September 25, 1884 – November 8, 1971) was an American football player and discus thrower for the University of Wisconsin. He was selected as a second-team All-American by Walter Camp in 1908. In 1959, Messmer was inducted into the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame.
==Biography== A native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Messmer began his athletic career at Milwaukee East High School. In 1904, Messmer set a national high school record in the discus throw.<ref name=Obit>{{cite news|title=All-Time Badger Athletic Great Messmer Dies|newspaper=Stevens Point Daily Journal|date=1971-11-09}}</ref>
Messmer enrolled at the University of Wisconsin where he competed in track, football, baseball, swimming, water polo and crew, becoming the first Wisconsin athlete to win nine varsity letters in major sports.<ref name=Walk/><ref name=Obit2>{{cite news|title=John Messmer Dies|newspaper=Wisconsin State Journal|date=1971-11-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=John Messmer, Famous Wisconsin Athlete, Dies|newspaper=Sheboygan Journal|date=1971-11-09}}</ref> He was the captain of both the football and swim teams in 1907.<ref name=Obit/> In 1908, he was also selected by Walter Camp as a second-team All-American at the guard position.<ref>{{cite web|title=Walter Camp Football Foundation |url=http://waltercamp.org/index.php/teams_and_awards// |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090330065940/http://waltercamp.org/index.php/teams_and_awards |archivedate=2009-03-30 }}</ref>
In a May 1908 meet in Chicago, Messmer threw for a distance of {{convert|129|ft|9|in|m|abbr=off|sp=us}},<ref>{{cite news|title=BADGER ATHLETES DEFEAT MAROONS|newspaper=La Crosse Tribune|date=1908-05-25}}</ref> a distance that would have taken the bronze medal two months later at the 1908 Olympics. He reportedly won every discus competition he ever entered.<ref>{{cite news|title=Messmer, first Badger 9 letter winner, dies|newspaper=Winona Daily News (Minn.)|date=1971-11-09}}</ref> He qualified for the U.S. Olympic team in 1908 with the best discus throw in the country, but he withdrew from the Olympic team because of a brother's illness.<ref name=Walk/> Messmer was also a member of the University of Wisconsin baseball team that toured Japan in 1909.<ref>{{cite web|title=John Messmer (1993): Football, Track & Baseball|publisher=University of Wisconsin Athletics|url=http://www.uwathletics.com/hall_of_fame/year.aspx?HOFID=90}}</ref>
After graduating from the University of Wisconsin, Messmer worked as a surveyor in the Madison area.<ref name=Walk>{{cite web|title=Wisconsin Center District Walk of Fame|publisher=Wisconsin Center District|url=http://www.wcd.org/walkoffame/bios.asp|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080828073950/http://www.wcd.org/walkoffame/bios.asp|archivedate=2008-08-28}}</ref> He later became an architect in Milwaukee and worked on the design and supervised construction of such buildings as the Elks Club and West Allis City Hall, churches, halls, schools, banks, Concordia College and some industrial buildings.<ref name=Obit3>{{cite news|title=Messmer Is Dead at 87|newspaper=Oshkosh Daily Northwestern|date=1971-11-09}}</ref> He also served as the general superintendent of Milwaukee County construction from 1928 until his retirement in 1956.<ref name=Obit2/>
In 1959, Messmer was chosen unanimously for induction into the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame.<ref name=Obit/> The biography of Messmer at the Wisconsin Walk of Fame notes that, in addition to being captain of the football and swim teams, Messmer won three letters in each of track, football and baseball and concludes: "John Messmer might have been the most versatile athlete to ever compete at the University of Wisconsin."<ref name=Walk/> He was also inducted into the University of Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 1993.<ref>{{cite book|author=Don Kopriva, Jim Mott|title=On Wisconsin!: The History of Badger Athletics, p. 21|publisher=Sports Publishing, Inc.|year=1998|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wvAV-TuxKtMC | isbn=978-1-57167-038-0}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Messmer, John}} Category:1884 births Category:1971 deaths Category:American football guards Category:Wisconsin Badgers football players