Clint Wager
Quick Facts
Biography
Clinton Belmar Wager was a professional football and basketball player. He played in the National Football League from 1942–1945 for the Chicago Bears, Chicago Cardinals and the Cardinals-Pittsburgh Steelers merged team, "Card-Pitt". However he also played in the National Basketball Association in 1949–50 for the Fort Wayne Pistons (now called the Detroit Pistons). He also played in the National Basketball League for the Oshkosh All-Stars and Hammond Calumet Buccaneers, while finishing his career with the Louisville Alumnites of the National Professional Basketball League.
College career
Prior to his professional career, Wager played basketball for Saint Mary's University. During his college career, he was an all-conference center and an individual scoring champion twice, in 1939 and 1940. He also participated in the 1941 National Invitational Tournament. He was also selected in his senior year as captain of the school's basketball team. He also played football for the school. He was elected in the schools sports hall of fame in 1977.
Punting accident
In 1944, while practicing punting, Wager managed to kick himself in the head resulting in a fractured skull. The incident knocked him out of competition with Card-Pitt for over a month.