Arthur W. Renner (February 14, 1923 – September 14, 1999) 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

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

from 1942 to 1946. He played on four

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

teams that were ranked in the top ten in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and was the captain of the

1946 Michigan Wolverines football team The 1946 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1946 Big Nine Conference football season. In their ninth year under head coach was Fritz Crisler, the Wolverines compiled a 6–2–1 record (5–1–1 Big ...

that was ranked #6 in the United States in the final AP Poll. His college football career was interrupted by service in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Early years

Renner was born in southwestern

in 1923. His father, Raymond J. Renner, was a

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

native who worked for a tea company. His mother, Mina A. Renner, was a Michigan native. At the time of the

1930 United States Census The 1930 United States census, conducted by the Census Bureau one month from April 1, 1930, determined the resident population of the United States to be 122,775,046, an increase of 13.7 percent over the 106,021,537 persons enumerated during t ...

, he lived at

Three Rivers, Michigan Three Rivers is a city in St. Joseph County, Michigan. The population was 7,973 at the time of the 2020 census. Three Rivers derives its name from its location at the confluence of the St. Joseph River and two tributaries, the Rocky and Porta ...

, with his parents and a younger brother, Warren H. Renner.

University of Michigan

Renner enrolled at the

in 1942 and played four years of varsity football for the

Michigan Wolverines football The Michigan Wolverines football team represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Michigan has the List of NCAA football teams by wins, most all-time wins in college football ...

team under head coach

Fritz Crisler Herbert Orin "Fritz" Crisler ( ; January 12, 1899 – August 19, 1982) was an American college football coach who is best known as "the father of two-platoon football", an innovation in which separate units of players were used for offense and ...

. He played at the

end End, END, Ending, or ENDS may refer to: End Mathematics *End (category theory) * End (topology) * End (graph theory) * End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) * End (endomorphism) Sports and games *End (gridiron football) *End, a division ...

position for Michigan's freshman team in 1942 and for the varsity from 1943 to 1946. After the 1943 season, the ''Michiganensian'' wrote that Renner stood out like a

klieg light A Klieg light is an intense carbon arc lamp especially used in filmmaking. It is named after inventor John Kliegl and his brother Anton Kliegl. Klieg lights usually have a Fresnel lens with a spherical reflector or an ellipsoidal reflector with ...

at the end position. He started all nine games for the 1944 Michigan team that was ranked #8 in the final AP Poll. After the 1944 season, Renner was inducted into the

, but he was discharged in the fall of 1945 following the end of

. He was again a starter for the 1945 team that was ranked No. 6 in the final AP poll. Playing against the legendary

1945 Army Cadets football team The 1945 Army Cadets football team was an American football team that represented the United States Military Academy as an independent. In their fifth season under head coach Earl Blaik, the Cadets compiled a 9–0 record, shut out five of nine ...

(a team that shut out five opponents, won the

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

, and allowed only four

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

during the entire year), Renner scored Michigan's only touchdown on a pass from Walt Teninga. At the end of the 1945 season, Renner was elected by his teammates as the captain of the

. The 1946 team captained by Renner finished the season ranked No. 6 in the country in the final AP poll. While attending Michigan, he was also a member of

Lambda Chi Alpha Lambda Chi Alpha (), commonly referred to as Lambda Chi, is a fraternities and sororities, collegiate fraternity in North America. With over 300,000 initiates as of 2024, it is the third-largest social fraternity in the world by number of initia ...

fraternity, the Triangles and the Vulcans. He graduated from Michigan in 1947 with a Bachelor of Science degree in

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

Later years

Renner was selected by 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 ...

as the 56th pick in the

1946 NFL draft The 1946 NFL draft was held on January 14, 1946, at the Commodore Hotel in New York City, New York. The selections were initially withheld from the public out of fear that the newly formed All-America Football Conference would sign away players ...

, but he chose a career in engineering over professional football. In his later years, Renner lived in

Sturgis, Michigan Sturgis is a city in St. Joseph County, Michigan, St. Joseph County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 11,082 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The city is located at the northeast corner of Sturgis Township, Michigan ...

. He died there in 1999 at age 76.The Michigan Alumnus, vol. 106, 1999, p. 59.

References

External links

University of Michigan Football Captain: Art Renner, 1946
{{DEFAULTSORT:Renner, Art 1923 births 1999 deaths Michigan Wolverines football players United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II United States Marines People from Sturgis, Michigan