Madison LeRoy "Pete" Bonner (September 24, 1894 – December 1, 1972) was a

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

player.

Auburn University

Bonner was a prominent tackle for

Mike Donahue Michael Joseph "Iron Mike" Donahue (June 14, 1876 – December 11, 1960) was an American football player, coach of football, basketball, baseball, tennis, track, soccer, and golf, and a college athletics administrator. He served as the head fo ...

Auburn Tigers The Auburn Tigers are the athletic teams representing Auburn University, a public four-year coeducational university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. The Auburn Tigers compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Associat ...

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...

from 1916 to

1919 Events January * January 1 ** The Czechoslovak Legions occupy much of the self-proclaimed "free city" of Pressburg (now Bratislava), enforcing its incorporation into the new republic of Czechoslovakia. ** HMY ''Iolaire'' sinks off the c ...

. He was a member of an All-time Auburn Tigers football team selected in 1935, as well as coach Donahue's all-time Auburn team. He was nominated though not selected for an ''Associated Press'' All-Time Southeast 1869-1919 era team.

1917

Bonner was an All-Southern tackle in 1917.

1919

He led the team to the SIAA championship of 1919 with an 8–1 record. His brother Thomas Herbert "Herb" Bonner also attended Auburn and played on the football team.

Zelda Sayre Zelda Fitzgerald (; July 24, 1900 – March 10, 1948) was an American novelist, painter, dancer, and socialite. Born in Montgomery, Alabama, she was noted for her beauty and high spirits, and was dubbed by her husband F. Scott Fitzgerald a ...

sent him a telegram after the defeat of

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

for the SIAA championship, it read:

"Shooting a seven, aren’t we awfully proud of the boys, give them my love—knew we could."

She signed it "Zelder Sayre." One account of Bonner's play that day reads, "The Jackets were unable to gain through the Auburn line because of Pete Bonner, giant tackle, who seemed to have a knack of being just where he should have for the best interests of his team."

Death

He died at the age of 78 in 1972.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonner, Pete All-Southern college football players Auburn Tigers football players American football guards American football tackles 1894 births 1972 deaths People from Clay County, Alabama Players of American football from Alabama