Marshall University Athletics
Marshall Athletics Hall of Fame
- Induction:
- 1986
- Class:
- 1951
When Ed Prelaz completed an all-conference football career at Marshall, his time as a member of the Thundering Herd was just beginning. The Richwood, W.Va., product graduated from high school in 1943 and then spent 26 months in the U.S. Navy as a gunner during World War II. When he finally arrived at Marshall, Cam Henderson had given up football coaching duties, and Prelaz led Coach Pete Pedersen’s first Herd squad in rushing with 586 yards, receiving All-Ohio Valley Conference honors as a fullback and linebacker. He led Marshall in rushing yardage again the following season, with 543 yards, then was injured and unable to play his senior season. Prelaz also wrestled those three seasons at Marshall for Coach Sam Clagg. Prelaz then became Marshall’s first official athletic trainer, a role in which he served through 1969.
In October 1955, Prelaz gained national attention when he saved the life of Marshall running back Dyke Six during a game at Kent State. Six was struck in the face and swallowed his tongue, and Prelaz inserted an oral screw to force open Six’s jaw, allowing him to remove the tongue from his airway, and Prelaz was named “National Trainer of the Year” by Scholastic Magazine. Prelaz also served as Marshall’s running backs coach from 1953-64 and was the school’s head wrestling coach from 1957-67. He remained a professor in the Marshall Health, Physical Education and Recreation department until he retired in 1999, having served Marshall for 47 years. In 2000, Prelaz was a member of the inaugural induction class in the Marshall University Sports Medicine Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the Marshall Athletic Hall of Fame in 1986.
