Walter Bakke |
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Walter Bennet Bakke was born on January 14, 1899, in Mayville, North Dakota. He competed in football, basketball and track in high school in Colorado. He enrolled at the University of Illinois in 1918, where he played football and majored in physical education. After graduation, in 1924, Bakke moved to Denver, Colorado, to teach physical education and coach.
From 1928 to 1930, Bakke served as an assistant athletic trainer to Matt Bullock at Illinois. In 1930, Bakke took a position as the assistant to Tucker Smith at Ohio State. While there, Bakke would work with the minor league Columbus Redbirds, spending one spring with their Major League affiliate, the St. Louis Cardinals.
Bakke served as the Wisconsin State Manager in the original NATA. In 1956-57, Bakke would serve on the current NATA Board of Directors. In 1960, he was one of the athletic trainers for the U.S. Olympic team in Rome. He was a 1965 inductee into the NATA Hall of Fame and retired from Wisconsin in July 1966. Bakke would pass away on December 27, 1987.
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