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JACK OF ALL TRADES A four-year starter in the Badgers' defensive backfield and a Big Ten champion in the high jump, David Greenwood earned his spot in the UW Athletic Hall of Fame by doing just about everything I BY MIKE LUCAS • UWBADGERS.COM n 1982, the Big Ten established an award to honor its Athlete of the Year. The first nominee from Wisconsin was a strapping All-Big Ten safety and conference high jump champion. Although David Greenwood didn't win ― Indiana middle distance ace Jim Spivey was the initial recipient of the award named for Jesse Owens ― he's still viewed today as one of the finest athletes in UW history. Spivey went on to become a three-time Olympian, and some believe Greenwood had all the tools to compete at a high level in the decathlon had he chosen that path instead of pro football. One of those believers was UW track coach Ed Nuttycombe. "Ed and I talked about it," Greenwood recalled. "I kind of thought if I didn't go in the first round (of the United States Football League draft) I might try to work on becoming a decathlete." But it never got to that stage. In 1983, Greenwood was one of 12 players taken in the first round of the inaugural USFL draft. The Michigan Panthers selected him with the 10th selection overall. Not that Greenwood has any regrets to this day on how it all turned out; especially since the capper to his career, he said, will be his induction Fri- day night into the University of Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame. "I'm happy for my dad and everyone who has been involved with shaping me," said Greenwood, whose dad, Perry, is still living in Park Falls, Wis., where he and his late wife Laura raised 11 children. (David was No. 8 in the family chain; No. 31 in the game program.) "I called him (Perry) and said, 'Congratulations, you made it into the Hall of Fame.' One of my sisters later posted on Facebook that she had a call from dad and he has never sounded so proud." Perry Greenwood is not in good enough health to make the trip from Park Falls ― which is 90 miles northeast of Eau Claire ― to Madison for the induction ceremonies. But he'll be here in spirit. "It was all about staying humble and doing it right," David Greenwood said of the lessons that his dad taught. "Commitment ― that was the main thing I learned from my parents. "Times weren't always easy for them but they stuck it out and provided for all of us. Commitment obviously means a lot and it has carried through even to my girls." David and Julie Greenwood have two daughters, ages 30 and 26. Home is Lutz, Fla., 12 miles north