FOCUS ON PHILATELY
by Ingert Kuzych
Bronko Nagurski: football's greatest player of all-time?
Just his name conjures up images of a hard-as-nails football player, in real life the "Bronko" certainly lived up to label. Although one of the quietest and most unassuming athletes to have ever excelled in any sport, Nagurski also accumulated an incredible number of fascinating - and often humorous - tales about himself. Most of these anecdotes stuck, perhaps largely because Bronko was just too shy to refute them. Stanley Frank, writing for Collier's in 1943 wrote, "More stories, authentic and apocryphal, have been written about Bronko Nagurski than anyone ever associated with football." This article will recall some of the better-known Bronko tales.
Bronko Nagurski lived most of his life in Minnesota, but was actually born just north of the border in Rainy River, Ontario, on November 3, 1908. His Ukrainian immigrant parents, Michael and Michelina Nagurski, crossed the border to International Falls, Minn., in 1912, where his father first worked in a sawmill before building a grocery store; he later purchased a farm to provide dairy products for his business. His eldest son, Bronko (a nickname for Bronislaw, sometimes also spelled Bronislau), spent most of his time working on the farm or delivering groceries. His free time was spent hunting or fishing in the area's wild surroundings.
College career
Nagurski's natural athletic abilities displayed themselves in the sports he took up at the high school in International Falls, and he was recruited to play football for the Minnesota Golden Gophers in 1926. The story of his "discovery," although certainly fiction, gives some idea of his legendary strength.
The University of Minnesota coach Clarence "Doc" Spears was searching for a young player he had heard about who lived in Minnesota's north woods. While driving on the unmarked dirt roads he became lost but came across a young man pushing a plow - without the aid of a horse. When he stopped to ask directions, the young man picked up the plow in one hand and quietly pointed the way. The coach had found his player!
Unlike in today's college football, freshmen in the 1920s were not allowed to play in varsity games, so it was not until 1927 that Bronko first began to display his abilities. Although he preferred to play fullback, Coach Spears used him at end and then at tackle during his first year. Despite playing in these less glamorous positions, he still attracted a great deal of attention in the media. Nagurski's celebrity was assured the following year when he was moved to fullback.
Many fullbacks today use speed and shiftiness to juke their way for yardage. Such was not the case with Bronko. His hallmark was raw, natural power, and he amazed sportswriters over the next two years with his awesome gridiron displays (Figure 1). Descriptions of his exploits took on an almost mythological tone.
During these early days of football, players would play both offense and defense. Nagurski was praised for his blocking and ball-carrying abilities on offense and his intimidation on defense. One writer, watching Bronko smash through the opponent's defense, wrote that, "players actually flew into the air as the Bronk crashed in like a charge of dynamite touched off under a log jam." Another described how, "It is physically impossible for them [the opposition] to withstand the rough contacts upon which the Bronko thrives. Indeed, he pulverizes them whether he has the ball or they have."
One account in an eastern newspaper, cited by a local Minnesota paper, tried to explain the phenomenon as follows:
"Nagurski was found roaming in the northwoods, wholly uncivilized and depending on his two hands and his trusty club to provide food and clothing. According to the story, he was roped, tied and brought to the university here to turn his barbaric impulses loose on Minnesota gridiron foes. Before each game he is supposed to dine exclusively on red, raw meat. The result of all this being that he plays a fierce game of football as has never before been known."
Nagurski wasn't only a bruising ball-carrier, he could throw as well when necessary. By the time he graduated he had played at four positions. In 1929, he was named consensus All-American at two different positions, fullback and tackle - the first and only player to accomplish such a feat. Some polls even named him an All-America end. During his three years as varsity player at the University of Minnesota the team went 18-4-2, winning the Big Ten championship in 1927. The Gophers went 6-2 in both 1928 and 1929 losing those four games by a total of just five points.
The average weight of football players in the 1920s and 1930s was about 175 to 190 pounds. Nagurski, at 6' 2" and between 220 to 230 pounds (the figures vary), was bigger than just about everyone else. Legendary sportswriter Grantland Rice summed up Nagurski as follows: "He was a star end, a star tackle and a crushing fullback who could pass. Eleven Nagurskis [on a team] would be a mop-up. It would be something close to murder and massacre."
Because of the large number of Scandinavians residing in Minnesota and the "-ski" in his surname, Nagurski received all sorts of interesting ethnic nicknames: the Viking Volcano, the Durable Dane and the Pulverizing Pole, in addition to the Big Fellow, the Big Nag and the Battering Bronko. Nevertheless, Bronko was proud of his real heritage saying, "I'm no Pole. I'm Ukrainian."
Pro football career
In 1930 Bronko turned down numerous offers for commercial endorsements and signed with the Chicago Bears of the still-young National Football League. He decided that since "football was fun, and someone wanted to pay him to have fun" he'd do it. He signed his first contract for $5,000, making him one of the league's highest paid players.
For the next several years, Nagurski was one of the standouts of the league. George Halas, his coach, described his almost unstoppable style as follows:
"He ran so low to the ground that his back was parallel to it. The thing that made him invincible was a trick that nobody ever has been able to copy. At the moment of contact with a tackler, Bronko dipped his shoulder while running at full speed and brought it up with a terrific impact, like an uppercut. It made no difference how much momentum the tackler had or how much he weighed. Bronko's counterblock with his shoulder bounced the tackler off him like rain hitting a roof."
With Bronko leading the way, the Bears won the championship in 1932 and 1933, and advanced to the title game in 1934 and 1937. Players of the time dreaded going up against Bronko. Benny Friedman, a player for the New York Giants, vividly recalled a 1933 encounter with Nagurski:
"Bronko split the middle of the line on the 22 [yard line] and broke into the open with only me between him and the goal. There were 50,000 people in the stands, but Bronko was such a frightening sight that my first impulse was to run away. I think I would've done it too, if it hadn't been for a four-foot fence around the field that hemmed me in. I had no place to go but toward Bronko. It was like ordering a switchman to stop a locomotive with his bare hands."
It was during his eight-year stint with the Bears, where he played running back and linebacker (Figure 2), that some of Bronko's most famous legends emerged.
All sorts descriptions of his superhuman prowess cropped up, making Nagurski the center of folktales spread not only by fellow players, but by the national media. He was reported to have once run into a Model T parked on the sidelines, requiring it to be towed away to get another fender. On another occasion he allegedly tackled a police horse. The next day the poor animal was consigned to the glue factory. Once, when opposition players were leaving Chicago on a train after a game, it lurched. The players yelled, "Run for your lives, it's Nagurski!"
In order to supplement his income during the Depression of the 1930s, Nagurski turned to professional wrestling part time. In 1936 he married Eileen Kane, his hometown sweetheart, and the following year the first of their six children was born. In 1938, when Halas refused to raise his salary to $6,500, Nagurski retired from football to follow a career in professional wrestling. (In those times, the sport was much more respectable than it is today.)
In 1937 he became the world wrestling champion and appeared in "Ripley's Believe it or Not" as the king of two sports (Figure 3). The following year he was sworn in as a U.S. citizen. He again became wrestling champion in 1939 and 1941, and then retired. He told a reporter, "If I don't quit now, I may wind up a cripple. Money doesn't mean that much to me." Instead, Nagurski dedicated himself to full-time farming. An article in The Minneapolis Journal in 1942 reported that "he had no hired hands, 30 head of cattle, 1,000 poultry" and "does all the work himself" on the 240-acre farm. Bronko explained to the reporter, "I'm not going to give myself the chance to soften up."
The comeback
The following year Nagurski received a letter from the Chicago Bears imploring him to come out of his six-year retirement and play one more year with his old team. The Bears, who were suffering from a World War II manpower shortage, agreed to Bronko's two conditions. The first was that he would be allowed to come late, after the harvest was in. The second was that he would only play tackle, since he doubted that he could still be effective at his old position of running back.
So, at the age of 35, Nagurski was once again a headliner. He put in a strong season blocking and tackling until the final regular season game against the arch-rival Chicago Cardinals. The game was crucial, as the Bears needed a win to clinch the Western Division championship and advance to the league championship match. Trailing 24-14 after three quarters, the Bears gave Bronko the opportunity to take back his old position at fullback. What followed was like a replay of old times.
As Bronko assumed his former position the crowd came to its feet, sensing something extraordinary was about to happen. They were rewarded with an amazing display. Play after play Nagurski was given the ball and he responded by picking up sizeable chunks with every run. He scored the tying touchdown and set up another. By the time the contest ended, the Bears had scored 21 unanswered points and won 35-24. Bronko had collected 84 yards (in just one quarter) and was proclaimed the hero of the game. With characteristic nonchalance he shrugged off the attention and adulation of reporters, saying he needed to get back to take care of his farm before the upcoming championship game. He did admit, however, that, "That game gave me my greatest kick out of football."
Bronko scored one more touchdown in the championship game victory over Washington and then retired for good. Similar to the legendary Roman general Cincinnatus, he returned to his farm once his duty had been completed.
Retreat
In his later years, Nagurski seldom granted interviews and preferred to retain his privacy. Nevertheless, a sort of Paul Bunyonesque myth developed about the man who refused to take up life in the city, but instead enjoyed his anonymity in the back woods. In 1957 he sold his farm and three years later purchased a gas station that he operated with his sons until 1968. It was said that if Nagurski screwed on your gas cap, you would need a pipe wrench to get it off.
Another story describes how Bronko once accidentally sat on and flattened a fishing tackle box while leading a fishing group. Although he offered to pay, the owner would have none of it, preferring instead to save "a box flattened by Nagurski."
So, a paradox was created. The more Nagurski sought to lead an ordinary life, the more he was venerated. In Minnesota, Bronko became a state icon and in 1978 was made Minnesotan of the Year - an award he had to be coaxed to accept.
Bronko Nagurski died in 1990 at the age of 81. The citizens of International Falls decided to honor their favorite son with a museum. The Bronko Nagurski Museum was constructed as a wing to the Koochiching County Historical Society and opened in 1993. It is the first museum dedicated to an individual football player. In the spirit of Bronko, the building is not excessively elaborate. It is, however, a quality, state-of-the-art museum facility. Photographs, artifact, contracts, and other materials from Bronko's distinguished life are on display. A 15-minute video includes highlights of Bronko's career, including actual footage of his playing days.
Much additional information can be found about Bronko Nagurski online, including a website devoted to him: www.bronkonagurski.com.
Football honors
No. 72 Minnesota jersey retired - 1979
Named to the "All-Millennium Team" in 1999 by John Madden
The Bronko Nagurski Trophy has been presented annually to the college Defensive Player of the Year since 1993
Wrestling honors
A philatelic honor
On August 8, Bronko Nagurski was honored with his own stamp as part of a set of four 37-cent "Early Football Heroes" stamps released by the United States Postal Service (Figure 4). The first day ceremony, held in South Bend, Ind., at the College Football Hall of Fame and also honored Walter Camp, Ernie Nevers and Red Grange. All four stamp images were colorized from black and white originals by stamp designer Richard Sheaff. The multicolor, self-adhesive stamps were printed by gravure in quantities of 70 million in panes of 20, from sheets of 200.
Ingert Kuzych may be contacted at P.O. Box 3, Springfield, VA 22150 or at his e-mail address: [email protected].
Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, October 5, 2003, No. 40, Vol. LXXI
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