Curt Mueller, a 2002 Sporting Goods Industry Hall of Fame inductee who revolutionized the world of sports medicine, passed away October 19 at age 85 in Prairie du Sac, Wi.

Mueller founded Mueller Sports Medicine in 1959, coined the phrase “sports medicine” and helped bring state-of-the-art products used by professional, collegiate and high school athletes to the general public. He developed numerous registered products, registered trademarks and patents.

Mueller was a three-time letterman in basketball for the University of Wisconsin from 1953-56 and graduated with a degree in pharmacy in 1957. He saw the need to raise the standards of athletic training room supplies being sold to schools and started that business on a part-time basis in the basement of his father’s pharmacy, where he was working full-time, in Prairie du Sac.

Mueller’s many innovations included the development of Quench Gum in the mid-1970s. In 1984, his company introduced a full line of patented sport braces and neoprene supports to the retail market. Then came the revolutionary step of offering his products to the “weekend warriors” and introducing point-of-purchase packaging for its entire line.