Howard Weiss

Howard William "Howie" Weiss (October 12, 1917 – November 12, 1997) was an American football fullback. He was drafted in the third round of the 1939 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions and played two seasons with the team. Later he played with the Milwaukee Chiefs of the American Football League.

A three-sport letter winner in high school, he led the football team to its first conference championship while outscoring its opponents 208-12 during the year. He won the state junior golf championship in 1934. In 1935 Weiss enrolled at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and joined the Wisconsin Badger football team as a running back. He was named Wisconsin's Most Valuable Player in 1937 and again in 1938 when he also was awarded the Chicago Tribune Silver Football, given to the Big Ten Conference's Most Valuable Player. He was the first Badger to win the award. In the 1938 Heisman Trophy balloting Weiss came in sixth. He was elected class president for the 1938-39 school year. Weiss graduated in June 1939 with a degree in economics.

He was a third-round draft choice for the Detroit Lions in 1939 and played two seasons of professional football as a fullback and linebacker.

After a stint in the Navy during World War II, Weiss settled in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to begin a career in insurance. At the age of 39 he was named president of the Roberts Company, one of Wisconsin’s oldest and largest insurance companies. Weiss and his wife Geraldine involved themselves with Milwaukee’s civic affairs, donating their time and money to the Milwaukee Boys Club, the United Way, and the Milwaukee Art Museum.

He was one of 35 charter members named to the UW Athletic Hall of Fame in 1991.