If you’re a Wisconsin football fan, you’ve likely heard of Mark Tauscher ’99, MS’03. A farm kid from central Wisconsin, he joined the Badgers in 1995 as a walk-on and eventually became a starter on the offensive line. After graduating with a history degree in 1999, Tauscher pursued his master’s degree in education administration and used up the rest of his eligibility in the 1999 football season. He finished his master’s degree, but not before the Green Bay Packers selected him in the seventh round of the 2000 NFL draft. He retired from the NFL in 2011 after helping the Packers win Super Bowl XLV, and he was inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame in 2018.
Football fans have not only heard of Tauscher, but they’re also likely to hear from him. After the NFL, he began a new career in radio — one that didn’t stray far from his love of football. From 2011 to 2018, he served as a pregame and postgame analyst on the Packer Radio Network, and, starting in 2012, he was a second analyst on Badger Radio Network (BRN). In 2016, he started the “Wilde & Tausch” show on ESPN Wisconsin with sportswriter Jason Wilde ’94. At the start of the fall 2023 season, Tauscher began his new role as lead football analyst for BRN.
- Favorite ‘90s band: Sublime
- Favorite ‘90s movie or TV show: The Shawshank Redemption and Seinfeld
- Favorite campus-area hangout: Wando’s
- ‘90s trend you’re happy to have left behind: Tight-rolled jeans
- ‘90s trend you’d like to bring back: No cell phones
- Favorite Madison concert: Elton John and Billy Joel at the Kohl Center
- Best dorm horror story: “I don’t have any horror stories. I don’t know if there was air conditioning back in the midnineties; I don’t recall if there was. That would’ve been the only thing that probably got me — it being hot.”
What accomplishments are you most proud of over the past 25 years?
Having a family, that’s at the top of my list. Professionally, obviously being able to play for the Packers, and getting into the Packer Hall of Fame, being a part of a Super Bowl team, and having an NFL career that lasted 11 years is something that I take a ton of pride in.
This is your first season as a full-time radio analyst for the Badgers. What else have you been working on?
I have a daily show that I’ve been doing with another Wisconsin alum, Jason Wilde, who writes for the Wisconsin State Journal. We’ve been doing our show on ESPN Wisconsin for seven years already, which is crazy. Being able to work with Matt Lepay and doing the football broadcast has been a ton of fun.
I think whenever you play and you get done, you’re always trying to figure out, “How can I continue to do stuff that is meaningful and still have a lot of fun, and be involved in the games?” Being able to be a part of the Wisconsin football program and chronicle it on an afternoon basis on the radio ... I’ve always loved radio. That’s a big part of why I’m still in radio and doing what we’re doing. Also, Jeff Haupt, Craig Bartlett, and myself have been doing the Red Card, which is a meal program with UW athletics. Those are three things that I’ve gotten involved in as my playing career has wound down.
What are some of your best sports moments from playing for the Badgers and the Packers?
From the Badgers standpoint: being able to make the traveling team my second year and earning a scholarship from a walk-on status was a huge deal. Ron Dayne against Iowa [when he broke] the all-time NCAA record and won the Heisman. Our team was the last Big 10 team to win back-to-back Rose Bowls [1999 and 2000]. I have a ton of great memories of campus, but those are the playing memories that really stick with me.
As far as the Packers go: starting my first game at Lambeau and being able to play a ton of games at Lambeau Field, finishing a career off winning a Super Bowl, and being inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame.
Are there any courses or professors — or maybe coaches or teammates — from the UW who have had a lasting influence on you?
From a professor standpoint, George Kliminski was a professor over at the educational leadership department when I was going to get my master’s degree. He was just a really good friend and someone who helped guide me through that whole process. Barry Alvarez and Jim Huber, my offensive line coach, continued to put me in a position to achieve my dreams of making it to the NFL. There is no shortage of other teachers and professors, but when it comes to making an impact for me personally, those three guys really left a mark and helped guide me into a position where I was able to live out an NFL dream.
What are some of your best memories from your time on campus?
The friendships that I made. Golfing out at University Ridge. Living with Matt Davenport and Vitaly Pisetsky, a couple of kickers. The amount of stories that we have from our days back at Breese Terrace, that always brings a huge smile to my face. Bouncing and bartending at Wando’s with my buddy Erik Waisanen, who was a big part of the start of “Jump Around.” It’s not the big events that you always remember, it’s the relationships you have. Those are lifelong friends that you get, and that’s the beautiful part about being alumni of the University of Wisconsin.
It’s always the people. That’s what makes this place so great. You have all these great buildings, and new halls, and new additions to Camp Randall — all this other stuff. But it’s always the people that you share the whole thing with.
