Today’s “by the numbers” moves to jersey No. 3 where the selection for the best Badger to wear the number is 1999-2003 wide receiver Lee Evans.
Evans came to Wisconsin as a productive high school receiver and track star–finishing his track career with a best time of 13.59 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles and 37.32 seconds in the 300-meter hurdles.
After not playing much as a freshman in 1999–six total games with three receptions for 76 yards and a touchdown–Evans burst onto the scene as a sophomore and quickly became one of the best wide receivers ever to play for Wisconsin.
His sophomore season ended with 13 games played, 33 catches, 634 yards and four touchdowns.
His junior and senior seasons then–with them coming in 2001 and 2003 respectively after he missed the 2002 season with a torn ACL–put him in the Wisconsin record books as he recorded 75 catches his junior season for 1545 yards and nine touchdowns and 64 catches his senior season for 1213 yards and 13 touchdowns.
His career accolades include an All-American nod and the Big Ten record for receiving yards as a junior, and a total career with set the school record in receiving yards with 3468 and touchdowns with 27 and finished with the second-most receptions with 175.
His college production was enough to make him the No. 13 overall pick in the 2004 NFL Draft by the Buffalo Bills.
The Ohio native’s NFL career was as productive, if not more productive, than his time in Madison.
He ended up retiring in 2011 after playing eight NFL seasons–seven for the Bills and one for the Baltimore Ravens–during which he recorded 381 receptions for 6008 yards and 43 touchdowns.
His best season came in 2006 with the Bills when Evans played 16 games and caught 82 passes for 1292 yards, eight touchdowns and 15.8 yards-per-reception.
The Badgers haven’t had much NFL talent come through the program at the wide receiver position so the Evans choice for this number was an easy one, especially given what he did after he reached the NFL.
Check back in tomorrow for jersey No. 4 who is another Badger wide receiver to dominate at the college level and receive a shot at NFL football.