Bronko Nagurski

Football Player

• Born: November 3, 1908
• Birthplace: Rainy River, Ontario, Canada
• Died: January 7, 1990
• Place of death: International Falls, Minnesota

Sport: Football

Early Life

Bronislau “Bronko” Nagurski was born on November 3, 1908, in the village of Rainy River, Ontario, Canada. His parents were originally from the Ukraine. When Bronko was four years old, his parents moved from Rainy River to International Falls, Minnesota, where they established a small but successful grocery store and raised two sons and two daughters.

Bronko was known as a hardworking boy. He built up his legs by running to and from school every day. In high school, Bronko played center on the International Falls High School basketball team and participated in the shot put, discus, high jump, and relays on the track team. In football, Bronko played end, tackle, and guard; but the team did not win a game for two whole seasons.

When the principal at International Falls High School canceled a trip to a basketball tournament to punish two of Bronko’s teammates, Bronko enrolled for his senior year at Bemidji High School. He had been a noteworthy player for International Falls, and the Bemidji coach was happy to have Bronko. The state high school association, however, ruled that Bronko could not play football at Bemidji because he lived outside the school district.

The Road to Excellence

Bronko graduated from Bemidji High School in 1926. He had always been big and strong for his age, and he loved football. He also wanted to go to college. Legend has it that the football coach from the University of Minnesota, Clarence Spears, recruited Bronko after driving by a farm and seeing him plow a field without a horse. Actually, Bronko enrolled in Minnesota, unheralded and unrecruited, in 1926.

Freshmen were not eligible to play collegiate football, so Bronko had to wait until 1927 to show what he could do. Playing on offense and defense, Bronko teamed with all-American Herb Joesting and Harold Hanson to achieve a 6-0-2 record for Minnesota. One of those tie games was at Notre Dame—the first time in twenty years that the Fighting Irish had not defeated an opponent at home. Bronko became a hero by blocking a punt to set up the touchdown that tied the game. In Bronko’s three years at Minnesota, the Gophers had an 18-4-2 record. The four losses came by a total of five points. Coach Spears said that Bronko was the most versatile player of all time and that he could be all-American at any of the eleven positions.

The Emerging Champion

In 1929, Bronko Nagurski was the first player named all-American at two positions: tackle and fullback. He is still considered the measuring stick for fullbacks even though, when asked in later years, he said he would probably be a linebacker in today’s football.

Bronko was a punishing runner with the football. Would-be tacklers seemed to bounce off of him. He never tried to sidestep them; he preferred to lower his head and shoulders at the last instant and bowl over his opponent. However, he was a gentle man off the field. He was kind and rarely argued. He had a high-pitched voice that made people relax after the initial shock of interacting with such a big and strong man.

In 1930, Bronko was given the chance to play for the Chicago Bears, at that time a very strong team. Bronko teamed up in the backfield with the immortal Red Grange, who later said that Bronko was the best player he had ever seen.

Continuing the Story

Bronko played nine seasons for the Bears. During that time, the Bears’ record was 79-20-12. In 1932, the Bears won the NFL Championship on a jump pass from Bronko to Red Grange. They played in the 1934 and 1937 championship games, losing to the Giants and the Redskins.

Bronko’s professional playing career symbolized power and force. At 6 feet 2 inches and 235 pounds, he was a large athlete for his era. His championship ring was the largest ever made, at size 19 1/2, until Chicago Bears William Perry’s was made. Bronko played both offense and defense with reckless abandon. Opponents avoided him on the field because they knew he was powerful and strong.

Bronko’s quarterback, Sid Luckman, said that Bronko was an exceptional person, not just the greatest athlete ever. Bronko was a humble champion.

There was not much money to be made in professional football in those days, so in the off-season, Bronko became a professional wrestler. He wrestled professionally until 1960, long after he had retired from football for good, after a one-season comeback with the Bears during World War II to help them win a championship. In 1963, he was inducted as a charter member into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Bronko went back to International Falls with his wife Eileen to raise four sons and two daughters. He owned and managed a gas station until he retired in 1968. He suffered from arthritis because of all of the pounding his body took, but he remained an active outdoorsman. In 1990, he died in International Falls at the age of eighty-one.

Summary

Bronko Nagurski remains a legend in football. When a modern ball carrier runs over tacklers, often the player is compared to Bronko. However, Bronko was a peaceful man who later in life enjoyed the quiet of the forest and lakes of northern Minnesota. He did not play football for attention or to be a hero; he played because he loved the game, and he played every game at full speed.

Bibliography

Barra, Allen. Big Play: Barra on Football. Washington, D.C.: Brassey’s, 2004.

Dent, Jim. Monster of the Midway: Bronko Nagurski, the 1943 Chicago Bears, and the Greatest Comeback Ever. New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 2004.

Molinaro, John F., Jeff Marek, and Dave Meltzer. Top One Hundred Pro Wrestlers of All Time. Etobicoke, Ont.: Winding Stair Press, 2002.

Rippel, Joel A. Seventy-five Memorable Moments in Minnesota Sports. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2003.

Sugar, Bert R. The One Hundred Greatest Athletes of All Time. New York: Citadel Press, 1995.