American football player
 Portrait of Benson from 1991 | |||||||||
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| Position: | Linebacker | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | (1945-08-05)August 5, 1945 Belmond, Iowa, U.S. | ||||||||
| Died: | January 26, 2019(2019-01-26) (aged 73) Rochester, Minnesota, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 215 lb (98 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Grand Meadow (MN) | ||||||||
| College: | Hamline | ||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1967 / round: 11 / pick: 280 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
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| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Dean Duane Benson (August 5, 1945 – January 26, 2019) was an American football linebacker and politician.
Football career
Benson played college football and track and field at Hamline University. Benson graduated from Hamline University in 1967. He played professionally in American Football League for the Oakland Raiders (1967–1969) and in the National Football League for the Raiders (1970–1971), the Atlanta Falcons (1972–1973), and the Houston Oilers (1974–1976).
Business and political career
Benson was a charter member of the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority, created in 2012 to oversee construction of the state's new professional football stadium. He was the executive director of the Minnesota Business Partnership from 1994 to 2003. Benson owned and operated a cattle farm outside of Lanesboro, Minnesota.
Benson served in the Minnesota Senate, as a Republican, from 1980 to 1994 and was the Senate Minority Leader for six years.
Benson was founding co-director of the Minnesota Early Learning Foundation which brought together civic and business leaders to raise $20 million which was invested between 2006-2011 in support of finding approaches to ensure all Minnesota children enter kindergarten ready to learn. The group went on to recommend the creation of Minnesota's Early Learning Scholarship program, which has helped tens of thousands of children in low-income families to access quality early care and education.
Death
Benson died from cancer, on January 26, 2019, at the Methodist Hospital-Mayo Clinic, in Rochester, Minnesota. He was 73.
See also
References
- Duane Benson-Class of 1967-Hall of Fame-Hamline University
- Pro Football Reference-Duane Benson
- Minnesota State and Universities-Duane Benson
- Minnesota Legislators Past and Present-Duane Benson
- Former NFL player, state senator, business leader Duane Benson dies
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- 1945 births
- 2019 deaths
- People from Lanesboro, Minnesota
- People from Wright County, Iowa
- Businesspeople from Minnesota
- Farmers from Minnesota
- Republican Party Minnesota state senators
- Players of American football from Iowa
- American football linebackers
- Hamline Pipers football players
- Oakland Raiders players
- Atlanta Falcons players
- Houston Oilers players
- American Football League players
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- Deaths from cancer in Minnesota
- 20th-century American businesspeople
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