At age 94, a Michigan State national champion is coming home

Wayne Benson wanted to get back to the middle of the field.

He had told his family what he pictured: returning to Spartan Stadium, making his way to midfield, and bending down to kiss the block S or the Spartan helmet, whichever was beneath him. More than seven decades after playing for Michigan State, he wanted another moment on the ground where so much of his life had begun.

At 94, though, getting there presented challenges. His family had to consider his mobility, the steps, and the logistics of moving through a stadium on a football Saturday. Eventually, the plans shifted from midfield to the end zone and then to a suite, where he could enjoy the day comfortably.

On Saturday, Benson will be back at Spartan Stadium, where Michigan State plans to honor the former fullback with a video tribute. He will watch from the athletic director’s suite alongside his wife, Joan, also 94, and a family whose connection to the university stretches across generations.

When his son Steve was asked Friday what he expected his father to feel when the tribute played, he needed a moment before answering.

“He’ll be in tears,” Steve Benson said, choking up, “and we probably will be too.”

Benson turns 95 on Jan. 3. He played for Biggie Munn and was part of Michigan State’s 1951 and 1952 national championship teams. Saturday’s recognition comes during the 75th anniversary of the first of those championships.

The 1952 team finished 9-0 in the program’s final season as a football independent. In its team photograph, Benson stands in the front row wearing No. 77. Saturday, fans will have an opportunity to recognize the man who wore it.

The effort to bring him back began with his son Wayne II, who wanted to give his father the opportunity to return to the field. Steve credits his brother with pursuing the idea with the athletic department and Constantine “Con” Demos with helping move it forward.

Demos brought Benson’s story to Michigan State athletic director Dan Bartholomae, who agreed the university should honor him.

“Constantine Demos was kind enough to share Wayne’s story with me and we agreed he needed to be recognized and honored as an all time Spartan great,” Bartholomae told Spartans Illustrated. “As one of two living members on the 75th anniversary of our first national championship, what a privilege it is to celebrate Wayne.”

Bartholomae also recognized Doug Weaver, the other surviving member of that championship team.

“We also have our other living member – Doug Weaver – in our thoughts as we sing the praises of these tremendous Spartan Football alums!” he said.

For the Benson family, Demos’ involvement helped turn a longstanding wish into something tangible.

“Con … really kind of lit a fire under everything,” Steve said.

Jack Ebling also helped give the idea momentum. During a September appearance on The Drive with Jack, Benson talked about his playing days, his former teammates, and his desire to come back.

“I told my son, Steve, that I’d like to go back,” Benson told Ebling. “It’s one of my wishes.”

For a man who had spent so much of his life connected to Michigan State, the prospect of returning was exciting. It also required some reassurance.

“He was a little, I don’t know, hesitant initially because he’s not in the greatest shape,” Steve said.

The family worked through the options with him until they settled on the suite. Benson could come back, be recognized, and share the experience with the people closest to him.

That includes the woman he met because of football.

Joan was an Alabama cheerleader. After Wayne’s senior season, he played for the North in the Blue-Gray Game while she cheered for the South. According to Steve, they met at a dance associated with the game and began dating.

Wayne and Joan married Oct. 15, 1955, and recently celebrated their 71st wedding anniversary.

On Saturday, they will be together again at a football game, accompanied by all three of their sons. Bill is flying in from California. Wayne II will be there with his wife, Sheryl, and their daughter, Miranda. Steve and his wife, Karen, will join them.

For Steve, returning to Spartan Stadium brings him to a place that helped shape his childhood.

The Bensons lived in East Lansing, and they had season tickets at midfield, in the front row of the upper deck. From that vantage point, Steve learned to watch plays develop and understand the game.

“From 1966 until 1982, when I graduated from State, I never missed a home game,” he said.

His brothers grew up going, too. Wayne II went on to earn a varsity letter playing golf for Michigan State. Steve participated in the Spartan Spirit Block and walked on for spring football. Bill attended MSU for a year before transferring to UCLA to study film.

“There’s a lot of green blood in our family,” Steve said.

Their father’s football past was part of that upbringing, although Steve remembers a man more likely to coach his children than draw attention to his own accomplishments. Benson coached flag football and the Junior Trojans in East Lansing, helping another generation learn the sport.

Even now, his father occasionally tells a story Steve has never heard.

Earlier this year, one story explained why the family had never seen his national championship ring.

As Steve recounts the story his father told him, Benson and teammate Billy Wells were headed to a party in the Chicago area when they were pulled over for speeding near Gary, Indiana. They had been driving fast enough that the officer threatened to take them to jail.

Benson protested that they needed to get to the party. During the exchange, the officer noticed the ring on his finger.

According to the account Benson shared with his son, he handed over his national championship ring, and the officer let them go.

“So my dad does not have his championship ring anymore,” Steve said, with a laugh.

Steve is uncertain about the exact timing, but the story’s ending was clear: His father left without the ring and avoided jail.

It was a remarkable piece of family history to hear for the first time more than 70 years after Benson’s playing career ended. Steve had grown up knowing his father was a national champion. He was still discovering what had happened along the way.

After football, Benson built a career in life insurance that lasted about 50 years. Steve said his father also gave back financially to Michigan State, including donating rental houses to support the university.

“He’s given a large part of his life and a huge chunk of his finances to Michigan State through the years,” Steve said.

Benson spent roughly three decades living in Florida before returning to Michigan a little more than two years ago. That distance helps explain why, by his recollection in the Ebling interview, it had been about 30 years since he last attended a game at Spartan Stadium.

These days, he lives in the Spring Lake area, watches television, and spends time with his Chihuahua.

The dog’s name is Sparty.

He still follows the football team, too. Steve said his parents were pleased with Michigan State’s comeback against Illinois last week, even though the Spartans ultimately lost in overtime. The family sees reasons for hope under Fitzgerald despite the injuries that have complicated his first season.

Saturday will give them a chance to watch together while Michigan State recognizes a member of the teams that helped establish the program’s national standing.

Steve said the tribute is expected to include images from his father’s playing days.

For Benson, the original wish had been simple. He wanted to return to the field and acknowledge the place that had given him so much.

“What he really wanted to do, again, was go out on the field and just kind of doff his cap,” Steve said.

Instead, he will be upstairs with Joan and their family, looking down on the field where he once played.

Seventy-four years ago, Wayne Benson played for an unbeaten national champion Michigan State team. On Saturday, the fans who inherited that team’s legacy will have a chance to cheer for one of the men who built it.