Date of birth | March 5, 1921 |
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Place of birth | Lancaster, Wisconsin |
Date of death | June 21, 1945 | (aged 24)
Place of death | Okinawa |
Career information | |
Position(s) | E |
College | Wisconsin–Madison |
NFL draft | 1943 / Round: 2 / Pick: 11 |
Drafted by | Detroit Lions |
David Nathan "Dave" Schreiner (March 5, 1921 – June 21, 1945) was an American football player. From Lancaster in southwest Wisconsin, he was a two-time All-American and the 1942 Big Ten Most Valuable Player end at Wisconsin and a 1943 second round draft choice of the Detroit Lions of the National Football League. While in college, he worked in a girls' dormitory cafeteria to earn spending money, although his family was comfortable financially. He was mortally wounded in action as a Marine on June 20, 1945 during the Battle of Okinawa and died the next day. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1955. His life and death are detailed in the book Third Down and a War to Go, written by Terry Frei, the son of Jerry Frei, one of Schreiner's teammates on the 1942 Wisconsin Badgers football team.