Sheldon Beise

Sheldon Beise (September 15, 1911 – April 1, 1960) was an American football player and coach.

Beise was a native of Mound, Minnesota, where he was an all-around athlete, winning varsity letters in basketball, track, baseball and football at Mound High School.^[1] Beise began his collegiate career at the University of Wisconsin during the 1931–32 academic year. After one year, he transferred to the University of Minnesota.^[2] Beise played at the fullback position for the Minnesota Golden Gophers football teams from 1933 to 1935 and was selected as a first-team All-American in 1935 by the North American Newspaper Alliance, and the Central Press Association (based on a poll of college football captains taken).^[3] He was also named as a second-team All-American by the Associated Press, United Press, Newspaper Editors Association and New York Sun. He played on Bernie Bierman's national championship teams of 1934 and 1935 and never played in a losing game for Minnesota.^[4] He was considered a powerful plunger and one of the most effective blockers in the Bernie Bierman era of single wing football."^[4] He has been described as a "battering ram fullback," and one contemporary account notes that Minnesota's winning streak in the 1934 and 1935 seasons was due in no small measure to Biese's powerful drive."^[5] In addition to the All-American honors in 1935, he was an All-Big Ten Conference fullback for three consecutive years. He was also selected to play in the East-West Shrine game in San Frandsco after the 1935 season.^[2] Beise also participated in baseball and track at the University of Minnesota.^[2] He was drafted in the fourth round of the 1936 NFL Draft.^[6]

After graduating, Beise served as a backfield coach and physical education instructor at the University of Minnesota. He also coached football at the College of the Holy Cross,Worcester.^[4] After retiring from football, Beise worked in an insurance business.^[2] He was insurance superintendent for the Western Life Insurance Co., an affiliate of St. Paul Fire and Marine.^[4]

Beise was killed in an automobile accident in 1960. He was driving on Minnesota's Highway 7 when his car left the highway ten miles west of Minneapolis and hit a tree.^[1] He was alone in the car and suffered a fractured skull. He reportedly fell asleep at the wheel while driving to his home in rural Excelsior, Minnesota.^[2] Upon learning of Beise's death, Bierman told reporters, "This comes as a great shock to me. Shelly was a great football player, a real personal friend and a grand fellow in every way."^[4] Beise was survived by wife and two children, Barbara and Grant.^[4]

He was posthumously inducted into the University of Minnesota's "M" Club Hall of Fame in 2006.^[7]

• Sheldon Beise at Find a Grave