Wayland Herman Becker (November 2, 1910 – December 1, 1984) was an

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

player. He played in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) for six seasons.

Early life

Becker was born in Soperton, Wisconsin, and attended East High School in

Green Bay, Wisconsin Green Bay is a city in Brown County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the head of Green Bay (Lake Michigan), Green Bay (known locally as "the bay of Green Bay"), a sub-basin of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the F ...

. While in high school, he twice led his football team to Fox River Valley conference championships in 1928 and 1929. Becker attended

Marquette University Marquette University () is a Private university, private Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It was established as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, by John Henni, the first Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Ar ...

, where he played football and basketball, lettering twice.

Football career

Becker began his NFL career with the

George Halas George Stanley Halas Sr. (February 2, 1895 – October 31, 1983), nicknamed "Papa Bear", was an American professional football end, coach, and executive. He was the founder and owner of the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL), ...

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

in 1934. He played just two games for the Bears before completing the 1934 season with the

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1883 as the Brooklyn Grays. In 1884, it became a member of the American Association as the Brooklyn Atlantics before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brook ...

, with whom he stayed through the 1935 season. In 1936, Becker went to the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

, where he spent the next three seasons. Those Packers teams played in the

NFL Championship Game Throughout its history, the National Football league (NFL) and other rival American football leagues have used several different formats to determine their league champions, including a period of inter-league matchups to determine a true national ...

twice during his tenure, winning in

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House. * January 28 – Death and state funer ...

and losing in

1938 Events January * January 1 – state-owned enterprise, State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France (SNCF) and the Netherlands (Nederlandse Spoorwegen – NS). * January 20 – King Farouk of Egypt marries Saf ...

. He finished his NFL career in 1939 with the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

. The Pirates released him after two games. In 1941, he was on the Columbus Bullies of the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, AFL–NFL merger, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Foot ...

. The team won the AFL championship, and the league's coaches named Becker second-team All-League based on his performance that season.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Becker, Wayland 1910 births 1984 deaths American football defensive ends American football wide receivers Chicago Bears players Brooklyn Dodgers (NFL) players Green Bay Packers players Pittsburgh Pirates (football) players Columbus Bullies players Marquette Golden Avalanche football players Marquette Golden Eagles men's basketball players People from Forest County, Wisconsin People from Shawano County, Wisconsin Players of American football from Wisconsin People from Lena, Wisconsin American men's basketball players Green Bay East High School alumni