Whitey Wistert Francis Michael " Whitey " Wistert ( February 20 , 1912 – April 23 , 1985 ) was an American football and baseball player . He played college football and college baseball at the University of Michigan . Wistert was the first of the three Wistert brothers — he was succeeded by Albert ( Al ) and Alvin — who were named All - American tackles at Michigan and later inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame . He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1967 . During his time at Michigan , Wistert played on three consecutive Big Ten Conference football championships teams , including two that won back - to - back national championships . He was also Big Ten Conference MVP in baseball in college and later played for Major League Baseball ' s Cincinnati Reds . The Wistert brothers all wore jersey No . 11 at Michigan and are among the seven players who have had their numbers retired by the Michigan Wolverines football program . Their number will be put back into circulation starting on November 10 , 2012 before a Michigan home game against Northwestern as part of the Michigan Football Legend program . Early years . Wistert was born in 1912 in Chicago , Illinois . His parents , Kazimir J . Wistert and Josephine ( Shukis ) Wistert , immigrated to the United States from Lithuania in 1894 and were married at Chicago in 1907 . His father was a policeman in Chicago from at least 1910 to 1927 . At the time of the 1920 United States Census , Wistert ' s family lived at 5647 Waveland Avenue in Chicago ' s 27th Ward and consisted of parents , Kazimir and Josephine , and five children : Josephine ( age 11 ) , Isabelle ( age 10 ) , Francis ( age 7 ) , Evelyn ( age 6 ) , and Alvin ( age 3 - 1 / 2 ) . Wistert ' s father was shot while on duty and pursuing a robbery suspect in July 1926 . By the spring of 1927 , Wistert ' s father , who had served in the U . S . Army from 1898 to 1901 , was disabled due to " chest emphysema with draining sinus " and was admitted to the U . S . National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers in Milwaukee , Wisconsin . He died in June 1927 when Whitey was 15 years old . At the time of the 1930 United States Census , Wistert ' s family continued to live at 5647 Waveland Avenue in Chicago . The household at that time consisted of Wistert ' s mother , Josephine , and five children : Josephine ( age 22 , employed as a bookkeeper ) , Francis ( age 18 , employed as a tube maker for a radio company ) , Evelyn ( age 16 , employed as a " saleslady " at a variety store ) , Alvin ( age 13 ) , and Albert ( age 8 ) . College athletics . After graduating from Chicago ' s Schurz High School in 1929 , Wistert attended the University of Michigan where he was a star athlete in both football and baseball from 1931 to 1933 . The Wistert brothers of Michigan . Wistert was the first of three brothers to play for Michigan . The other two are Al Wistert and Alvin Wistert . All three Wistert brothers wore number 11 for the Wolverines football team , and all three were All - Americans . Interviewed by " The Detroit News " in 2004 , Alvin recalled : " And if I ' m not mistaken I think this is unprecedented in the annals of college football : that three brothers all would go to the same school , all played football . All played tackle , all wore the same number 11 , all made All - American . Two of us played on four national championship teams . And all were inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame . " The Wistert brothers grew up on the northwest side of Chicago and were the sons of a Lithuanian family . Their father was a Spanish - American War veteran who was later killed in the line of duty while working for the Chicago Police Department . According to brother Alvin Wistert , their father " was born Casmir Vistertus and he Anglicized it when he came to America to Wistert . " The story of the Wistert brothers at Michigan began when Whitey ' s Carl Schurz High School classmate John Kowalik was invited to visit the University of Michigan . At the time , Whitey Wistert " was working in a factory building Majestic radios . " Kowalik took Whitey with him on his visit to Ann Arbor , and according to Alvin , " that ' s how it started : the Wisterts of Michigan . " Football . As a football player , Wistert played for consecutive undefeated national championship teams in 1932 and 1933 and was a consensus All - American in 1933 . The 1934 University of Michigan yearbook , the Michiganensian , included the following quote from Grantland Rice : " Wistert was unanimously selected as the best tackle in the Middle - West this year . He was the key to Michigan ' s defensive line play . He was a sure tackler and it was next to impossible to fool him on trick maneuvers . He was keen , quick , and accurate in diagnosing plays . " Wistert and Chuck Bernard were the leaders of the 1933 offensive line when the team went 7 – 0 – 1 with a tie to the Minnesota Golden Gophers . One of Wistert ' s teammates on the 1932 and 1933 Michigan football teams was future U . S . President Gerald Ford . In an interview in the February 1974 issue of " Michigan Alumnus , " Wistert said of Ford : " He was a real good competitor - a real bulldog type . Even during a losing year , he was voted MVP by his teammates . They felt he was one guy who could stay and fight for a losing cause . " In 1936 , he was a member Michigan football coaching staff under Coach Harry Kipke . Baseball . Wistert also earned varsity letter s in baseball three years and was selected as the Most Valuable Player in the Big Ten Conference in 1934 . The 1934 Michiganensian yearbook reports that the final game of the baseball season was a 4 – 0 shutout by Wistert against the University of Chicago Maroons . " Wistert , for the Wolves , allowed only five well - scattered hits during the game . Although Whitey Wistert walked four men , he more than off - set this by striking out nine of the Maroons to face him . " Wistert also pitched a four - hitter against Ohio State . Honors . Wistert was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1967 , one year before his brother Albert . In 1981 , he was named to the University of Michigan Hall of Honor in the fourth class of inductees alongside his brothers . Only five Michigan football players earned this honor before him . Professional baseball . Wistert had a short cup of coffee in Major League Baseball , appearing in three games for the Cincinnati Reds between September 11 , 1934 and September 25 , 1934 . In two appearances as a pitcher , Wistert allowed only one run in eight innings , for a career ERA of 1 . 13 . However , in three plate appearances , he went hitless and struck out twice . Although he only played briefly at the major league level , Wistert played five years of professional baseball . Fellow 1933 Michigan Wolverines football All - American , Ted Petoskey also debuted for the Reds in September 1934 . Late life . After retiring from sports , Wistert became a New York lawyer . He went on to became a vice - president of an industrial relations firm in Toledo , Ohio . He served in the United States Navy as a lieutenant during World War II .