Edward J. Bock (September 1, 1916July 31, 2004) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

player and businessman. Bock was inducted into the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were v ...

in 1970 and retired as the CEO of

Monsanto The Monsanto Company () was an American agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology corporation founded in 1901 and headquartered in Creve Coeur, Missouri. Monsanto's best known product is Roundup, a glyphosate-based herbicide, developed i ...

in 1972.

College career

As a Cyclone, Bock played lineman both on offense and defense although his strongest position was

offensive guard Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict in ...

. He started all 26 games of his college career and earned all-Big Six Conference honors all three years as well. He was co-captain of the 7–1–1 1938 team which is considered one of the greatest teams in school history. That same season, he was named Iowa State's first ever unanimous first team All-American. At the conclusion of his senior season, Bock played in the

East–West Shrine Game East West (or East and West) may refer to: *East–West dichotomy, the contrast between Eastern and Western society or culture Arts and entertainment Books, journals and magazines *''East, West'', an anthology of short stories written by Salma ...

, the Chicago Tribune College All-Star Game and the Dallas Dream Game at the Cotton Bowl against the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. It is the th ...

. Upon graduation, Bock was offered a contract to play professional football for the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine ...

. He opted to stay at Iowa State and coach the line while working on his master's degree in mechanical engineering. In 1970, Bock was inducted into the

in 1970.

After football

Once Bock completed his master's degree, he accepted a job with

. He worked his way up and was president and CEO by the time of his retirement in 1972.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bock, Ed 1916 births 2004 deaths All-American college football players Sportspeople from Fort Dodge, Iowa Players of American football from Iowa American football guards Iowa State Cyclones football players College Football Hall of Fame inductees Monsanto employees