Robert Wahl Robert Allen " Al " Wahl ( born circa 1927 ) , nicknamed " Brick " Wahl , is a former football player who was a two - time All - American for the University of Michigan Wolverines in 1949 and 1950 . Wahl is also a former U . S . Army heavyweight boxing champion ( European theater ) who went on to become the president of a Fortune 500 company , Valmont Industries . All - American at the University of Michigan . Freshman year and military service . Wahl went to high school in Oak Park , Illinois and played for the Wolverines as a freshman in 1945 . He played as a 17 - year old under wartime rules but injuries handicapped him . One news report noted : " A 17 - year - old lad with a great high school reputation he was touted as a regular starter before the ' 45 season opened . But an ankle injury sidelined him and it also shook his confidence . " Wahl missed the 1946 and 1947 seasons due to service in the U . S . Army in Germany . While serving in the Army , Wahl became the Army ' s heavyweight boxing champion in occupied Germany with 14 knockout s in 17 bouts . Wahl said he took up boxing to keep in shape and found that boxing " not only developed him physically , but it gave him the quickness with his hands and taught him footwork . " 1948 season . As a sophomore , Wahl played for the undefeated 1948 Michigan Wolverines team that won the National Championship . In Bennie Oosterbaan ' s first year as head coach , the Wolverines outscored their opponents , 252 - 44 . 1949 season . In 1949 , Michigan had two All - Americans at tackle , with Wahl being named All - American at right tackle and teammate Alvin Wistert getting the nod at left tackle . With Wahl and Wistert leading the way , the 1949 Wolverines went 6 - 2 - 1 , finished in a tie for the Big Ten Conference football champions hip , and were ranked # 2 in the final Associated Press poll . The 1950 Michigan yearbook , called the " Michiganensian " , had a full - page profile of Wahl and noted : " Two years of steady performance as one of the nation ' s outstanding tackles paid off in All - American honors for Al ' Brick ' Wahl last season . Captain elect of the ' 50 squad , the 215 - pounder lifted the Wolverines out of their mid - season slump in the upset over Minnesota . He was brilliant in the closing battle with the Buckeye ' s , a 7 - 7 game that tied the Maize and Blue for the Big Ten championship . " 1950 season and Rose Bowl . As a senior in 1950 , Wahl was named team captain and was the Wolverines ' lone All - American selection . The team won the Big Ten championship and played in the 1951 Rose Bowl , defeating the University of California , 14 - 6 . The Wolverines had failed to score at half - time when press accounts following the game reported that Wahl ' s halftime speech inspired the team : " Giant Al Wahl , a 220 pound tackle who played a whale of a game on the field , was credited today with providing the spark that won the Rose Bowl game for Michigan . . . Badly battered through the first half and trailing the California Bears , 6 - 0 , at the intermission , team captain Wahl stood before his mates as they rested at halftime and told them of Michigan ' s winning tradition . " Coach Oosterbaan noted that he didn ' t say anything at halftime : " Al Wahl did it for us . " The speech apparently worked , as Michigan scored 14 points in the second half and held the Bears scoreless . A key blocked punt in the " Snow Bowl " . In the 1950 season , Wahl played a key role in the famed Snow Bowl game against Ohio State on November 25 , 1950 . The Snow Bowl was played in Columbus in a blizzard , at 10 degrees above zero , on an icy field , and with wind gusting over 30 miles per hour . Michigan defeated the Buckeyes without gaining a single first down or completing a pass , and despite punting 24 times and gaining 27 yards of total offense . Both Michigan scores came off blocked punts , one resulting in a safety and the other in a touchdown . Wahl was responsible for the safety , blocking a punt by OSU ' s Heisman Trophy winner Vic Janowicz . The Michigan Daily reported the next day on Wahl ' s block : " In tallying the safety it was Michigan ' s captain Al Wahl , who crashed in Janowicz ' well - exercised kicking leg . The ball bounced erratically to the right of the onrushing Maize and Blue lineman and was floundering less than a foot outside the end zone border when speedy Al Jackson caught up with it . Six inches closer and the Wolverines could have added six more points . " Three straight championships and the NFL Draft . Wahl also played in the 1951 All - Star Game . Between 1948 and 1950 , Wahl played for teams that won three consecutive Big Ten Conference football champions hips and had a record of 21 - 5 - 2 . Wahl was selected by the Chicago Bears in the 1951 NFL Draft but opted for two more years of Army service upon graduation . A 1951 newspaper account reported on Wahl ' s return to the Army : " Al Wahl , captain of the 1950 University of Michigan football team , has been called for Army service early next month . . . Wahl , who comes from Oak Park , Ill . is the second ex - Wolverine grid start to be called by the Army . " A recovered memento . In 1981 , " The New York Times " published an article about Wahl ' s recovery of an inscribed watch that was a memento of Michigan ' s victory in the 1951 Rose Bowl . Wahl reported that he lost the watch during a street fight in Chicago in 1953 , while he was running an Army prison at Fort Sheridan , Illinois . He said : " We got into a little fight . I didn ' t miss the watch until I was back in the car and headed to the fort . " Asked who won the fight , Wahl said : " I ' d like to think we did . During my time in the Army , I was also the European golden gloves heavyweight champ . " A local newspaper in Missouri tracked down Wahl through the University of Michigan alumni office . The newspaper found that Wahl worked for Valmont Industries in Omaha , Nebraska and called the company . The reporter asked : " Do you have a Mr . Wahl working there and would it be possible for him to come to the phone ? " " I suppose so , " the secretary said . " He ' s the president . " Honors and awards . In 2004 , Wahl was inducted into the University of Michigan ' s Hall of Honor . In 2005 , Wahl was selected as one of the 100 greatest Michigan football players of all time by the " Motown Sports Revival , " ranking 32nd on the all - time team . Business career . Wahl spent twenty years with Valmont Industries , a company that manufactures irrigation equipment . He joined the company in 1965 as a vice president of marketing and was named president of the company in 1977 . He served as the company ' s president and chief operating officer until 1985 , and helped build it into a Fortune 500 company . In 1987 , Wahl acquired a $ 60 - million sales distribution company serving a 20 - state market . After restructuring the company and making strategic acquisitions , he negotiated a sale of the company to a British conglomerate . Since 1991 , Wahl has been an independent consultant . He also served as an Executive Vice President of DreamScape Development Group , Inc . , a group involved in the development of the Las Vegas Domed Stadium Project , a proposed 80 , 000 seat domed sports stadium . Since 1997 , Wahl has been an independent business consultant and director of Phazar Corp . , a company in Mineral Wells , Texas that makes antennas , wireless mesh network solutions and other products .