Hall of Fame
Ed Bender came to the university in the fall of 1949 after helping Macon High School record an undefeated season in 1948. He quarterbacked the Bulldogs to conference co-championships in 1951 and 1952 and was named to the All-MIAA team three times. Mr. Bender was also an honorable mention Little All-American. After his graduation in 1953 he played two seasons for the St. Louis Knights semi-professional team, which lost only once during that time. In 1956 he started a high school coaching career that spanned 16 years. He coached football at Princeton, Mo., Fulton, Mo., Rochelle, Ill., and LaSalle-Peru, Ill. His Rochelle teams were undefeated four consecutive seasons and rolled up 36 straight victories. LaSalle-Peru went undefeated twice and was ranked second and third in the state two different seasons. In 1972 Mr. Bender was appointed head coach at Wisconsin-Superior, an NCAA Division III school. He served there three years, and for the first time as a player or a coach, he was associated with a losing team. He left the coaching profession after 1974 campaign to enter the insurance business in Eau Claire, Wisc. Today he has his own insurance company and his three daughters and their husbands are in the business with him.
