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Former Wisconsin Badgers, Green Bay Packers offensive lineman dies at age 47

Lorin Cox|
Oct 7, 2023; Madison, Wisconsin, USA; General view of a Wisconsin Badgers helmet
Oct 7, 2023; Madison, Wisconsin, USA; General view of a Wisconsin Badgers helmet | Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

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Wisconsin Badgers

The Wisconsin Badgers football program lost one of the great guards in team history Wednesday.

Two-time Rose Bowl champion and former Green Bay Packers fourth-round pick Bill Ferrario died unexpectedly in his Wisconsin home.

He just turned 47 years old on Monday.

Ferrario started all 50 games of his college career in Madison, earning all-Big Ten honors in 1999 and 2000.

The Scranton, Pennsylvania native helped the Badgers win back-to-back Rose Bowls those years, clearing running lanes for Heisman Trophy winner Ron Dayne.

Ferrairo was teammates with current Wisconsin assistant offensive line coach Casey Rabach, who shared his condolences on social media.

Ferrairo spent his first two professional seasons with the Packers before brief stops in Washington and Carolina. He retired in 2005.

In more recent years, he ran into legal trouble and was arrested multiple times across 2022 and 2023.

His obituary did not list a cause of death.

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Lorin Cox
LORIN COX

Lorin Cox is the managing editor of Wisconsin Badgers on SI. He has been covering Badgers sports since 2014, when he was an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin. He previously wrote for the Wisconsin State Journal, NBC Sports Chicago and USA Today Sports Media Group, and he is a former analyst for Pro Football Focus.

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