Washington University Bears football

The Washington University Bears football team represents Washington University in St. Louis in college football. The team competes at the NCAA Division III level as an affiliate member of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin. They are a primary member of the University Athletic Association, of which they were a founding member. They were previously a founding member of the Missouri Valley Conference whose bigger schools split into the Big Eight Conference and then added a few members to form the Big 12 Conference.
On September 4, 2024, the Division III web outlet D3sports.com reported that the CCIW would expel Washington from football membership after the 2025 season, with the report soon confirmed by the conference office. On October 18, 2024, the North Coast Athletic Conference announced that Washington would join as a football-only member, beginning in the 2026 season.
The school's first football team was fielded in 1887. The team plays its home games at the 3,300 seat Francis Olympic Field.
Former Washington University Bears football player and head coach Jimmy Conzelman is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Another former head coach, Weeb Ewbank, later coach of AFL, NFL, and Super Bowl champion teams is also in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Two former Washington University head coaches have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame: Bob Higgins in 1954 and Carl Snavely in 1965.
Two former Washington University players have also been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame: Harvey Jablonsky in 1978 and Shelby Jordan in 2013. Both Jablonsky and Jordan were All-Americans. Jordan went on to win Super Bowl XVIII with the Los Angeles Raiders.
Former Bears linebacker Brandon Roberts won the Vincent dePaul Draddy Trophy from the National Football Foundation as the nation's top football student-athlete in 2002. Roberts is the only non-FBS recipient of the award.

Seasons

†- Conference champions
‡- Conference co-champions
*- Playoff Appearance

Postseason appearances

NCAA Division III playoffs

The WashU Bears have made three appearances in the NCAA Division III playoffs, with a combined record of 0–3.

1999	First Round	Hardin–Simmons	L, 21–28
2013	First Round	Franklin	L, 10–17
2016	First Round	Wisconsin–Oshkosh	L, 13–49

Bowl games

The WashU Bears have made three NCAA Division III bowl appearances, with a combined record of 0–3.

2021	Isthmus Bowl	Aaron Keen	Wisconsin–River Falls	L, 27–48
2022	Isthmus Bowl	Aaron Keen	Wisconsin–River Falls	L, 24–31
2025	Isthmus Bowl	Aaron Keen	Wisconsin–Stout	L, 23–31

NFL draft picks

1937 — 9th Round, 3rd Pick, 83rd Overall — Chicago Cardinals — Dwight Hafeli — End

1938 — 3rd Round, 2nd Pick, 17th Overall — Philadelphia Eagles — Joe Bukant — FB

1942 — 3rd Round, 4th Pick, 19th Overall — Chicago Cardinals — Bud Schwenk — QB

1950 — 21st Round, 12th Pick, 273rd Overall — Cleveland Browns — Leroy Vogts — G

1955 — 20th Round, 1st Pick, 230th Overall — Chicago Cardinals — Jim Burst — HB

1973 — 7th Round, 1st Pick, 157th Overall — Houston Oilers — Shelby Jordan — T
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All-Americans

1929 — Harvey Jablonsky

1933 — Glynn Clark

1934 — Harry Brown

1935 — Bob Hudgens ; Joe Bukant

1936 — Dwight Hafeli

1937 — Raymond Hobbs

1941 — Wilson “Bud” Schwenk

1956 — Ed Lind

1957 — Ed Lind ; Don Polkinghorne

1960 — Paul Isham

1962 — Paul Isham

1963 — Arnie Edwards

1964 — James Powers

1970 — James Marx

1971 — Stu Watkins

1972 — Shelby Jordan ; Stu Watkins

1973 — Stu Watkins

1974 — Marion Stallings

1981 — Dave Bolton

1988 — Paul Matthews

1989 — Eric Nyhus ; Stacey Hightower

1990 — Eric Nyhus

1991 — Michael Lauber ; Jeff Doyle ; Aaron Keen

1992 — Michael Lauber

1993 — Jeff Doyle ; Aaron Keen

1994 — Matt Gomric

1995 — Chris Nalley ; Josh Haza

1996 — Chris Nalley ; Joe El-Etr, Aaron Boehm.

1997 — Joe El-Etr, Brad Klein.

1999 — Tim Runnalls, Kevin Dym

2000 — James Molnar, Jonathan Feig

2001 — James Molnar

2003 — Rick Schmitz

2005 — Joe Rizzo, Brad Duesing

2006 — Drew Wethington

2010 — Brandon Brown

2015 — Alex Hallwachs, Quincy Marting

2016 — Matt Page, Kevin Hammarlund

2017 — Johnny Davidson

2018 — Hank Michalski