Former Edgerton and Janesville print and broadcast sports reporter Bob Samuelson has brought his lifelong love of the game to life in the form of hand-drawn portraits of legendary athletes.
The third floor of the Edgerton Care Center has a room where Samuelson displays hundreds of his hand drawn portraits of his favorite athletes. “I’m a sports nut,” Samuelson said.
The Edgerton Reporter told the story behind Samuelson’s art in its July 15, 2026 edition. According to the piece:
The collection includes drawings of the long-time reporter’s favorite athletes from the Milwaukee Braves, Milwaukee Brewers, Milwaukee Bucks, Green Bay Packers and three very special illustrations of Edgerton High School student-athletes who became professional athletes. Portraits of Steve Stricker, Derek Carrier and Paul Janus hold a prominent place on the bulletin board above Samuelson’s bed. He calls it “The Edgerton Connection.”
Samuelson graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater with a journalism degree in 1980.
Out of college, Samuelson worked at WCLO in Janesville broadcasting news, weather and sports. Eventually he left WCLO to take on a part-time role at the Janesville Gazette covering sports.
At the Gazette, Samuelson covered high school sports and earned a beat covering UW-Whitewater Warhawk football. His responsibilities included covering games and going home to complete his articles before the Gazette’s 11 p.m. deadline.
While Samuelson enjoyed covering the success of the Whitewater football team along with his other responsibilities at the Gazette, he knew that he would need a more sustainable position. He joined the Edgerton Reporter as a general news reporter, then moved to full-time local sports reporter. His career at the Edgerton Reporter lasted 32 years before Samuelson’s hereditary spastic paraplegia began to limit his mobility.
During his career, Samuelson earned the school district’s Golden Apple award, the Wisconsin Baseball Coach’s Association media award and several WNA awards as an individual and as part of the Edgerton Reporter staff. He was inducted into the Edgerton Athletic Hall of Fame in 2007.
Living at the Edgerton Care Center since 2016, Samuelson has spent his time drawing more than 400 portraits — including former Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi, Christian Yelich from the Milwaukee Brewers and Giannis Antetekoumpo who was recently traded from the Milwaukee Bucks — that cover his walls of the local senior care facility.
