The Elroy "Crazylegs" Hirsch Award is presented annually to the state's top senior running back as part of the WSN Senior Football Awards. The award is named after former Wausau High School athlete Elroy "Crazylegs" Hirsch, who went on to play for the University of Wisconsin and the University of Michigan before starring at end in the NFL for 12 seasons. He is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the National High School Hall of Fame, and later went on to serve as Wisconsin's athletic director from 1969 to 1987.
The pre-season list will be trimmed down to about 25 semi-finalists halfway through the year, with five finalists chosen at the start of the playoffs. Winners are announced the week of the state finals.
| First Name | Last Name | Team |
|---|---|---|
| Caleb | Alexander | Marshfield |
| Reegan | Anderson | Almond-Bancroft |
| Brandon | Baumeister | North Crawford |
| Brennan | Becker | Wausau East |
| Garrett | Blaeske | Jefferson |
| Ben | Boots | Kimberly |
| Matt | Brown | Necedah |
| Isaiah | Butler | Lakeside Lutheran |
| Pat | Cauley | Mauston |
| Johnny | Chamberlain | Chetek-Weyerhaeuser |
| Aaron | Chier | Cedar Grove-Belgium |
| Ethan | Clark | Stevens Point |
| Nick | Coleman | Brown Deer |
| Dom | Conway | West De Pere |
| Xavier | Copeland | Greenfield |
| Cahleel | Copus | Madison La Follette |
| Ethan | Danz | Appleton North |
| Ben | Davis | Winneconne |
| Tyler | DeForest | Marshall |
| Andrew | DeYoung | Cambrida-Friesland |
| Noah | Diaz | Sun Prairie |
| Nathan | Dupee | Pittsville |
| Pete | Ellis | Wrightstown |
| Irric | Erickson | Frederic |
| Tommy | Garza | Catholic Memorial |
| Kyle | Geiger | Columbus |
| Tyler | Glass | Lancaster |
| Adrian | Harmsen | Waupun |
| Graham | Hasse | Brillion |
| Brandon | Hausner | Big Foot |
| Tarek | Herschleb | Columbus |
| Alex | Hintze | Oshkosh North |
| Nick | Horning | Random Lake |
| Donsha | Hudson | McFarland |
| Mateo | Infusino | Kenosha Bradford |
| Ben | Jacobs | Kickapoo/La Farge |
| Jordan | Jones | Pewaukee |
| Derek | Kahl | Menomonie |
| Austin | Kassner | Kewaunee |
| Aaron | Kepler | Ithaca |
| Troy | Laufenberg | Waunakee |
| Myles | Leahy | Darlington |
| Joe | Lemeron | Germantown |
| Scott | Lenius | Poynette |
| Ben | Links | Waterloo |
| Jamari | Manuel | Madison East |
| Bryce | McMurtry | Menomonee Falls |
| Ryan | Millis | Black River Falls |
| Nick | Monty | Whitnall |
| Lucas | Muchow | Reedsburg |
| Jeff | Needham | Fennimore |
| Bryce | Niemi | Owen-Withee |
| Luke | Nowak | Iowa-Grant |
| Connor | Olson | Altoona |
| Matt | Patterson | Brookfield Central |
| Dylan | Peterson | Reedsburg |
| Ronny | Ponick | Stanley-Bioyd |
| Max | Praschak | Somerset |
| Ian | Pribyl | South Milwaukee |
| Lee | Pronschinske | Arcadia |
| Demaris | Purifoy | Wauwatosa West |
| Mason | Reinhardt | Merrill |
| Boris | Ristivojevic | Sheboygan South |
| Tom | Rose | Port Washington |
| Wyatt | Schauf | River Valley |
| Eric | Schmid | Verona |
| Ethan | Seubert | Marathon |
| Jason | Singer | Darlington |
| Mitch | Snider | Madison Edgewood |
| Brett | Snider | Lancaster |
| Mitchell | Susa | Spencer/Columbus |
| Danny | Tauchen | Bonduel |
| Lane | Tessmer | Athens |
| Wyatt | Thompson | Mount Horeb/Barneveld |
| Cameron | Tindall | Verona |
| Adam | Tovar | Lake Country Lutheran |
| Michael | Tucker | University School of Milwaukee |
| Duke | VanderGalien | Randolph |
| Nathan | VanderMause | Neenah |
| Levi | VanLanen | Pulaski |
| Kyle | Webb | Chippewa Falls |
| Isaiah | Webb | Sussex Hamilton |
| Joe | Werner | West Allis Hale |
| Jake | Whalen | Wausau West |
| Tyler | Willeford | Plymouth |
| Ricky | Williams | Edgerton |
| Austin | Yager | Highland |
| Connor | Zblewski | Amherst |
Pre-season watch lists are compiled from all-conference teams, stats leaders, film evaluations, WSN Player Rankings, and coach input. Players do not have to be on the pre-season list to be considered for the semi-final or finals list.
Tag(s): News Archive News Travis Wilson Senior FB Awards FB Conference Previews
