Ed Withers

Edward J. Withers (August 28, 1926 – April 17, 1975) was an American football player. He was born in Memphis, Tennessee, and moved to Madison, Wisconsin when he was a boy. He attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison and played college football for the Wisconsin Badgers football team. He was one of the first African-Americans to be a regular starter for the Badgers, playing at the defensive back position.^[1] He was selected by the Football Writers Association of America as a first-team defensive player on their 1950 College Football All-America Team.^[2]^[3]^[4] Withers later worked as a teacher and coach at Roosevelt and North Division High Schools in Milwaukee and subsequently as an insurance salesman.^[1] He died in Tomah, Wisconsin, in 1975 at age 48.^[5]

References

^ ^a ^b "Celebrate UW's Black History: Ed Withers". University of Wisconsin. Retrieved February 5, 2015.
^ ESPN College Football Encyclopedia. ESPN Books. 2005. p. 1220. ISBN 1401337031.
^ Lawton Carver (November 27, 1950). "Youth Dominates INS All-America Teams". Lebanon Daily News.
^ "FWAA All America" (PDF). Football Writers Association of America. December 17, 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2019. Retrieved February 5, 2015.
^ Dates of birth and death (and place of death) taken from: Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935–2014 [database on-line].