Bronko Nagurski
Encyclopedia
Bronislau "Bronko" Nagurski (November 3, 1908 – January 7, 1990) was a Canadian-born American football
player. He was also a successful professional wrestler, recognized as a multiple-time world heavyweight champion.
, Ontario
, Canada
, of Polish
-Ukrainian
descent, and his family moved to International Falls, Minnesota
, when he was still a boy. His parents, "Mike" and Michelina Nagurski, were immigrants, from Western Ukraine (Halychyna/Galicia). Young Bronislau grew up working on his parents' farm and sawmill, delivering groceries for his father's grocery store and in his teens laboring at nearby timbering operations, growing into a powerfully muscular 6 footer.
Nagurski was discovered and signed by University of Minnesota Head Coach Clarence "Fats" Spears
, who drove up to International Falls and arriving watched Nagurski out plowing a field. According to legend Spears asked directions to the nearest town, and Bronko lifted his plow and used it to point in the direction of town. He was signed on the spot to play for the Golden Gophers. The ever colorful Spears admitted he concocted the story on his long drive back to the University of Minnesota in St. Paul.
Legends aside, on his first day of practice Spears decided to test Nagurski in the "Nutcracker" drill, where a defensive player had to take on two blockers and try to tackle a following ballcarrier. On the first drill two All-Big Ten linemen and a 6 foot two, 220 pound fullback nicknamed the "Owatonna Thunder" charged at Bronko, who promptly split the blockers and drove the big fullback into a blocking dummy. Spears sent in three more players, blew his whistle and watched Bronko produce the same explosive results and after a third try with the same conclusion realized what a super player he had recruited.
Nagurski became a standout playing both tackle on defense and fullback on offense at Minnesota
from 1927 to 1929. In 1929, after leading the nation in rushing with 737 yards he was a consensus All-American at fullback, and despite playing fewer games at the position also made some All-American teams at tackle. The preeminent sportswriter of the day Grantland Rice
listed him at the two positions in picking his 1929 All-America team. Rice later wrote, "Who would you pick to win a football game - eleven Jim Thorpe
s - eleven Glen Davises - eleven Red Grange
s - or eleven Bronko Nagurskis? The eleven Nagurskis would be a mop-up. It would be something close to murder and massacre. For the Bronk could star at any position on the field, with 216 pounds of authority to back him up." His greatest collegiate game was against the University of Wisconsin in 1928. Wearing a corset to protect cracked vertebrae, he recovered a Badger fumble deep in their territory and then ran the ball six straight times to score the go-ahead touchdown. Later in the same game, he intercepted a pass to seal the victory. During his time with the Gophers, the team went 18-4-2 and won the Big Ten Conference
championship in 1927.
Sports Illustrated
named Nagurski one of the four greatest athletes in Minnesota state history (the other three were Dave Winfield
, Kevin McHale
, and Joe Mauer
). In 1993, the Football Writers Association of America
created the Bronko Nagurski Trophy
, awarded annually to the best defensive player in college football. Notable winners include Warren Sapp
, Charles Woodson
, Champ Bailey
, and Derrick Johnson
. In 1999 Nagurski was selected by Sports Illustrated as a starting defensive tackle for their "NCAA Football All-Century Team". The other starting defensive tackle on that list was Rich Glover
. In 2007, Nagurski was ranked #17 on ESPN's Top 25 Players In College Football History list.
from 1930 to 1937. At 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m) and 235 pounds (107 kg), he would have been a formidable presence in any era of the NFL, and in his day he was a dominant force in the league, helping the Bears win several division titles and two NFL championships.
Nagurski has the largest recorded NFL Championship ring size at 19½ and wore a size 8 helmet. He was probably the largest running back of his time, bigger than most linemen of the day, and a forerunner to large fullbacks like Marion Motley
, John Henry Johnson
, Jim Brown
, often dragging multiple tacklers with him. In a time when players were expected to play on both sides of the ball, he was a standout defensive lineman as well playing ranging tackle or "The Monster." Following an injury, instead of sitting on the bench, he would sometimes be put in as an offensive tackle, making him the only player in NFL history to be named All-Pro at three non-kicking positions. In a 1984 interview with Sports Illustrated writer Paul "Dr. Z" Zimmerman
, when asked what position he would play if he were coming up in the present day, he said, "I would probably be a linebacker
today. I wouldn't be carrying the ball 20 or 25 times a game."
A time-honored and perhaps apocryphal story about Nagurski is a scoring gallop that he made against the Washington Redskins
, knocking two linebackers in opposite directions, stomping a defensive halfback and crushing a safety, then bouncing off the goalposts and cracking Wrigley Field
's brick wall. On returning to the huddle
for the extra point
try, he reportedly said: "That last guy hit me awfully hard."
During his football career, he built a second athletic career as a professional wrestler and became a major box office attraction. Tony Stecher, brother of former world champion Joe Stecher
, introduced Nagurski to wrestling in 1933 and became his manager. Nagurski defeated Tag Tagerson in his ring debut. Hitting his peak in the late 30s, Nagurski won a limited version of the world championship by defeating Dean Detton on June 29, 1937; but he finally achieved full recognition with his first NWA world title by defeating Lou Thesz
on June 23, 1939. Losing the title to Ray Steele
on March 7, 1940, he regained it from Steele one year later on March 11, 1941, but lost it only three months later to Sandor Szabo on June 5, 1941.
During World War II
, professional football teams were short of players and in 1943 Bronko Nagurski returned to the Bears for one season. He scored a touchdown in the Bears' championship victory against the Washington Redskins, served one season as backfield coach for UCLA in 1944, and finally returned to wrestling until his retirement in 1960.
After his retirement from wrestling, he returned home to International Falls and opened a service station
. He retired from that in 1978, at the age of 70. He lived out a quiet life on the shores of Rainy Lake
on the Canadian border.
He died in International Falls and is buried there in the Saint Thomas Cemetery.
as a charter member on September 7, 1963. At the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities house of his fraternity, Sigma Chi
, Nagurski's jersey and Significant Sig recognition certificate are on display. After his death, the town of International Falls honored him by opening the Bronko Nagurski Museum in Smokey Bear Park. In 1995, Nagurski was again honored when the Football Writers Association of America voted to have his name attached to college football's Defensive Player of the Year trophy.
A fictionalized eyewitness account of Nagurski's 1943 comeback is the subject of a dramatic monologue in the film version of Hearts in Atlantis
. The film's screenwriter, William Goldman
, repeated much of this rendition from his earlier account of the same story in his novel Magic.
In 1999, he was ranked #35 on The Sporting News
list of the 100 Greatest Football Players, the highest-ranking foreign-born player. In 2000, he was voted the second-greatest Minnesotan sportsman of the 20th century by the sportswriters of the Star Tribune
, coming in only behind Minnesota Twins
Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett
.
His son, Bronko Nagurski Jr.
, would go on to play football at Notre Dame
and become an all-star with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats
of the Canadian Football League
.
In 2009, he was an honorary team captain, represented by his son, Bronko Nagurski Jr.
, at the opening game of TCF Bank Stadium
.
His home town International Falls high school nickname in the Broncos in his honor.
NWA Minneapolis Wrestling and Boxing Club
NWA San Francisco
Other titles
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
player. He was also a successful professional wrestler, recognized as a multiple-time world heavyweight champion.
Youth and collegiate career
Nagurski was born in Rainy RiverRainy River, Ontario
The Canadian town of Rainy River is situated on the Ontario-Minnesota border, along the Rainy River opposite Baudette, Minnesota, USA, and southeast of the Lake of the Woods...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, of Polish
Poles
thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...
-Ukrainian
Ukrainians
Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens...
descent, and his family moved to International Falls, Minnesota
International Falls, Minnesota
International Falls is a city in and the county seat of Koochiching County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 6,424 at the 2010 census....
, when he was still a boy. His parents, "Mike" and Michelina Nagurski, were immigrants, from Western Ukraine (Halychyna/Galicia). Young Bronislau grew up working on his parents' farm and sawmill, delivering groceries for his father's grocery store and in his teens laboring at nearby timbering operations, growing into a powerfully muscular 6 footer.
Nagurski was discovered and signed by University of Minnesota Head Coach Clarence "Fats" Spears
Clarence Spears
Dr. Clarence Wiley "Doc" Spears was an American football player, coach, and doctor. He was an All-American guard at Dartmouth College and served as the head football coach at Dartmouth , West Virginia University , the University of Minnesota , the University of Oregon...
, who drove up to International Falls and arriving watched Nagurski out plowing a field. According to legend Spears asked directions to the nearest town, and Bronko lifted his plow and used it to point in the direction of town. He was signed on the spot to play for the Golden Gophers. The ever colorful Spears admitted he concocted the story on his long drive back to the University of Minnesota in St. Paul.
Legends aside, on his first day of practice Spears decided to test Nagurski in the "Nutcracker" drill, where a defensive player had to take on two blockers and try to tackle a following ballcarrier. On the first drill two All-Big Ten linemen and a 6 foot two, 220 pound fullback nicknamed the "Owatonna Thunder" charged at Bronko, who promptly split the blockers and drove the big fullback into a blocking dummy. Spears sent in three more players, blew his whistle and watched Bronko produce the same explosive results and after a third try with the same conclusion realized what a super player he had recruited.
Nagurski became a standout playing both tackle on defense and fullback on offense at Minnesota
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
from 1927 to 1929. In 1929, after leading the nation in rushing with 737 yards he was a consensus All-American at fullback, and despite playing fewer games at the position also made some All-American teams at tackle. The preeminent sportswriter of the day Grantland Rice
Grantland Rice
Grantland Rice was an early 20th century American sportswriter known for his elegant prose. His writing was published in newspapers around the country and broadcast on the radio.-Biography:...
listed him at the two positions in picking his 1929 All-America team. Rice later wrote, "Who would you pick to win a football game - eleven Jim Thorpe
Jim Thorpe
Jacobus Franciscus "Jim" Thorpe * Gerasimo and Whiteley. pg. 28 * americaslibrary.gov, accessed April 23, 2007. was an American athlete of mixed ancestry...
s - eleven Glen Davises - eleven Red Grange
Red Grange
Harold Edward "Red" Grange, nicknamed "The Galloping Ghost", was a college and professional American football halfback for the University of Illinois, the Chicago Bears, and for the short-lived New York Yankees. His signing with the Bears helped legitimize the National Football League...
s - or eleven Bronko Nagurskis? The eleven Nagurskis would be a mop-up. It would be something close to murder and massacre. For the Bronk could star at any position on the field, with 216 pounds of authority to back him up." His greatest collegiate game was against the University of Wisconsin in 1928. Wearing a corset to protect cracked vertebrae, he recovered a Badger fumble deep in their territory and then ran the ball six straight times to score the go-ahead touchdown. Later in the same game, he intercepted a pass to seal the victory. During his time with the Gophers, the team went 18-4-2 and won the Big Ten Conference
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...
championship in 1927.
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
named Nagurski one of the four greatest athletes in Minnesota state history (the other three were Dave Winfield
Dave Winfield
David Mark Winfield is an American former Major League Baseball outfielder. He is currently Executive Vice President/Senior Advisor of the San Diego Padres and an analyst for the ESPN program Baseball Tonight...
, Kevin McHale
Kevin McHale
Kevin Edward McHale is a retired American professional basketball player and current head coach of the Houston Rockets. After his playing career, he worked for the Minnesota Timberwolves as the team's general manager and later its coach. He was fired as coach in June 2009...
, and Joe Mauer
Joe Mauer
Joseph Patrick Mauer is a Major League Baseball catcher for the Minnesota Twins. He is the only catcher in Major League history to win three batting titles...
). In 1993, the Football Writers Association of America
Football Writers Association of America
The Football Writers Association of America is one of the organizations whose College Football All-America Team is recognized by the NCAA...
created the Bronko Nagurski Trophy
Bronko Nagurski Trophy
The Bronko Nagurski Trophy has been awarded annually since 1993 to the collegiate American football player adjudged by the membership of the Football Writers Association of America to be the best defensively in the National Collegiate Athletic Association; the award is presented by the Charlotte...
, awarded annually to the best defensive player in college football. Notable winners include Warren Sapp
Warren Sapp
Warren Carlos Sapp is a retired American football player who played defensive tackle in the National Football League. He played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Oakland Raiders during his 13 year professional career, and college football for the University of Miami Hurricanes. He was then...
, Charles Woodson
Charles Woodson
Charles C. Woodson is an American football cornerback for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League . He played college football at the University of Michigan for the Michigan Wolverines. In 1997, Woodson led the Wolverines to a national championship...
, Champ Bailey
Champ Bailey
Roland "Champ" Bailey is an American football cornerback for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League. Bailey was drafted in the 1st round of the 1999 NFL Draft by the Washington Redskins. He played college football at the University of Georgia.Bailey is 8th among Broncos in all-time...
, and Derrick Johnson
Derrick Johnson
-Kansas City Chiefs:Johnson started every game for the Kansas City Chiefs in 2005, becoming the first Chiefs linebacker in 20 years to start all 16 games of his rookie campaign. He was subsequently awarded the Mack Lee Hill Award by the Chiefs...
. In 1999 Nagurski was selected by Sports Illustrated as a starting defensive tackle for their "NCAA Football All-Century Team". The other starting defensive tackle on that list was Rich Glover
Rich Glover
Richard Edward "Richie" Glover is a former professional football player, a defensive tackle for the New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles of the NFL. He played college football at Nebraska under head coach Bob Devaney. Glover played his high school football at Snyder High School in Jersey City, NJ...
. In 2007, Nagurski was ranked #17 on ESPN's Top 25 Players In College Football History list.
Professional career
Nagurski turned professional to play for the Chicago BearsChicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
from 1930 to 1937. At 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m) and 235 pounds (107 kg), he would have been a formidable presence in any era of the NFL, and in his day he was a dominant force in the league, helping the Bears win several division titles and two NFL championships.
Nagurski has the largest recorded NFL Championship ring size at 19½ and wore a size 8 helmet. He was probably the largest running back of his time, bigger than most linemen of the day, and a forerunner to large fullbacks like Marion Motley
Marion Motley
Marion Motley was a professional football player, a fullback for the Cleveland Browns, and briefly for the Pittsburgh Steelers.-Early years:...
, John Henry Johnson
John Henry Johnson
John Henry Johnson was an American football fullback. He played from 1954 to 1965 for the San Francisco 49ers, the Detroit Lions, and the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League...
, Jim Brown
Jim Brown
James Nathaniel "Jim" Brown is an American former professional football player who has also made his mark as an actor. He is best known for his exceptional and record-setting nine-year career as a running back for the NFL Cleveland Browns from 1957 to 1965. In 2002, he was named by Sporting News...
, often dragging multiple tacklers with him. In a time when players were expected to play on both sides of the ball, he was a standout defensive lineman as well playing ranging tackle or "The Monster." Following an injury, instead of sitting on the bench, he would sometimes be put in as an offensive tackle, making him the only player in NFL history to be named All-Pro at three non-kicking positions. In a 1984 interview with Sports Illustrated writer Paul "Dr. Z" Zimmerman
Paul Zimmerman
Paul Lionel Zimmerman is the son of Charles S. Zimmerman and Rose Zimmerman. Zimmerman, also known to readers as "Dr. Z", is an American football sportswriter who wrote for the weekly magazine Sports Illustrated, as well as the magazine's website, SI.com. He is sometimes confused with Paul D...
, when asked what position he would play if he were coming up in the present day, he said, "I would probably be a linebacker
Linebacker
A linebacker is a position in American football that was invented by football coach Fielding H. Yost of the University of Michigan. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up approximately three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage, behind the defensive linemen...
today. I wouldn't be carrying the ball 20 or 25 times a game."
A time-honored and perhaps apocryphal story about Nagurski is a scoring gallop that he made against the Washington Redskins
Washington Redskins
The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...
, knocking two linebackers in opposite directions, stomping a defensive halfback and crushing a safety, then bouncing off the goalposts and cracking Wrigley Field
Wrigley Field
Wrigley Field is a baseball stadium in Chicago, Illinois, United States that has served as the home ballpark of the Chicago Cubs since 1916. It was built in 1914 as Weeghman Park for the Chicago Federal League baseball team, the Chicago Whales...
's brick wall. On returning to the huddle
Huddle
In sport, a huddle is when a team gathers together, usually in a tight circle, to strategise, motivate or celebrate. It is a popular strategy for keeping opponents insulated from sensitive information, and acts as a form of insulation when the level of noise in the venue is such that normal...
for the extra point
Extra Point
Extra Point is a twice-daily, two-minute segment on ESPN Radio that covers generic sports-related topical news and opinion. The AM edition airs Monday through Saturday at various times between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. ET, and the PM edition airs Monday through Friday between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. ET...
try, he reportedly said: "That last guy hit me awfully hard."
During his football career, he built a second athletic career as a professional wrestler and became a major box office attraction. Tony Stecher, brother of former world champion Joe Stecher
Joe Stecher
Joe Stecher , sometimes spelled Joe Stetcher, was a professional wrestler and three-time World Heavyweight Champion. Stecher is the first wrestler to regain the original version of the World Heavyweight Championship....
, introduced Nagurski to wrestling in 1933 and became his manager. Nagurski defeated Tag Tagerson in his ring debut. Hitting his peak in the late 30s, Nagurski won a limited version of the world championship by defeating Dean Detton on June 29, 1937; but he finally achieved full recognition with his first NWA world title by defeating Lou Thesz
Lou Thesz
Aloysius Martin "Lou" Thesz was a United States professional wrestler and 18-time world heavyweight champion, most notably holding the NWA World Heavyweight Championship three times. Combined, he held the NWA Championship for 10 years, three months and nine days , longer than anyone else in history...
on June 23, 1939. Losing the title to Ray Steele
Peter Sauer
Peter Sauer , known by the ring name Ray Steele, was an American professional wrestler born and raised in Norka, a German colony in Russia, in 1900 before immigrating to Lincoln, Nebraska in 1906....
on March 7, 1940, he regained it from Steele one year later on March 11, 1941, but lost it only three months later to Sandor Szabo on June 5, 1941.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, professional football teams were short of players and in 1943 Bronko Nagurski returned to the Bears for one season. He scored a touchdown in the Bears' championship victory against the Washington Redskins, served one season as backfield coach for UCLA in 1944, and finally returned to wrestling until his retirement in 1960.
After his retirement from wrestling, he returned home to International Falls and opened a service station
Filling station
A filling station, also known as a fueling station, garage, gasbar , gas station , petrol bunk , petrol pump , petrol garage, petrol kiosk , petrol station "'servo"' in Australia or service station, is a facility which sells fuel and lubricants...
. He retired from that in 1978, at the age of 70. He lived out a quiet life on the shores of Rainy Lake
Rainy Lake
Rainy Lake is a relatively large freshwater lake that straddles the border between the United States and Canada. The Rainy River issues from the west side of the lake and is harnessed to make hydroelectricity for US and Canadian locations. The U.S...
on the Canadian border.
He died in International Falls and is buried there in the Saint Thomas Cemetery.
Personal Life
Nagurski married his childhood sweetheart Eileen Kane December 28, 1936, and the couple had a child Christmas Day 1937, whom they named after his father.Legacy
Nagurski was elected to the Pro Football Hall of FamePro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter inductees...
as a charter member on September 7, 1963. At the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities house of his fraternity, Sigma Chi
Sigma Chi
Sigma Chi is the largest and one of the oldest college Greek-letter secret and social fraternities in North America with 244 active chapters and more than . Sigma Chi was founded on June 28, 1855 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio when members split from Delta Kappa Epsilon...
, Nagurski's jersey and Significant Sig recognition certificate are on display. After his death, the town of International Falls honored him by opening the Bronko Nagurski Museum in Smokey Bear Park. In 1995, Nagurski was again honored when the Football Writers Association of America voted to have his name attached to college football's Defensive Player of the Year trophy.
A fictionalized eyewitness account of Nagurski's 1943 comeback is the subject of a dramatic monologue in the film version of Hearts in Atlantis
Hearts in Atlantis (film)
Hearts in Atlantis is a 2001 American/Australian drama thriller directed by Scott Hicks. It is loosely adapted from Stephen King's novella "Low Men in Yellow Coats", from his story collection Hearts in Atlantis.-Plot:...
. The film's screenwriter, William Goldman
William Goldman
William Goldman is an American novelist, playwright, and Academy Award-winning screenwriter.-Early life and education:...
, repeated much of this rendition from his earlier account of the same story in his novel Magic.
In 1999, he was ranked #35 on The Sporting News
The Sporting News
Sporting News is an American-based sports magazine. It was established in 1886, and it became the dominant American publication covering baseball — so much so that it acquired the nickname "The Bible of Baseball"...
list of the 100 Greatest Football Players, the highest-ranking foreign-born player. In 2000, he was voted the second-greatest Minnesotan sportsman of the 20th century by the sportswriters of the Star Tribune
Star Tribune
The Star Tribune is the largest newspaper in the U.S. state of Minnesota and is published seven days each week in an edition for the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area. A statewide version is also available across Minnesota and parts of Wisconsin, Iowa, South Dakota, and North Dakota. The...
, coming in only behind Minnesota Twins
Minnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins are a professional baseball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They play in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The team is named after the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul. They played in Metropolitan Stadium from 1961 to 1981 and the...
Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett
Kirby Puckett
Kirby Puckett was a Major League Baseball center fielder. He played his entire 12-year baseball career with the Minnesota Twins and he is the Twins franchise's all-time leader in career hits, runs, doubles, and total bases...
.
His son, Bronko Nagurski Jr.
Bronko Nagurski Jr.
Bronko Nagurski, Jr. was an American offensive tackle in the Canadian Football League. He was son of the famed National Football League player Bronko Nagurski.-Professional career:...
, would go on to play football at Notre Dame
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...
and become an all-star with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Hamilton Tiger-Cats
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a Canadian Football League team based in Hamilton, Ontario, founded in 1950 with the merger of the Hamilton Tigers and the Hamilton Wildcats. The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Ivor Wynne Stadium...
of the Canadian Football League
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
.
In 2009, he was an honorary team captain, represented by his son, Bronko Nagurski Jr.
Bronko Nagurski Jr.
Bronko Nagurski, Jr. was an American offensive tackle in the Canadian Football League. He was son of the famed National Football League player Bronko Nagurski.-Professional career:...
, at the opening game of TCF Bank Stadium
TCF Bank Stadium
TCF Bank Stadium, sometimes referred to as either "The Bank" or "The Gopher Hole," is the football stadium for the Minnesota Golden Gophers college football team at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota...
.
His home town International Falls high school nickname in the Broncos in his honor.
Championships and accomplishments
National Wrestling AssociationNational Wrestling Association
The National Wrestling Association was an off-shoot of the National Boxing Association, formed to sanction professional wrestling. This NWA is not the same organization as the National Wrestling Alliance, which was formed in 1948....
- NWA/NBA World Heavyweight ChampionshipWorld Heavyweight Championship (National Wrestling Association)The World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship of the National Wrestling Association , an offshoot of the National Boxing Association...
(2 times)
NWA Minneapolis Wrestling and Boxing Club
American Wrestling Association
The American Wrestling Association was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that ran from 1960 to 1991. It was owned and founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo...
- NWA World Tag Team Championship (Minneapolis version) (1 time) - with Verne GagneVerne GagneLaverne Clarence "Verne" Gagne , is a retired American professional wrestler, football player, and professional wrestling trainer and promoter. He was the former owner/promoter of the American Wrestling Association , based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which was the predominant promotion throughout...
NWA San Francisco
National Wrestling Alliance
The National Wrestling Alliance is a wrestling promotion company and sanctions various NWA championships in the United States. The NWA has been in operation since 1948...
- NWA Pacific Coast Heavyweight Championship (San Francisco version) (2 times)
- Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum
- (Class of 2011)
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of FameWrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of FameThe Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame is a professional wrestling hall of fame that recognizes people who make significant contributions to the sport. It was founded in 1996 by Dave Meltzer, editor of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame is not...
(Class of 1996)
Other titles
- Los AngelesLos ÁngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
World Heavyweight Championship (1 time) - World Heavyweight Championship (original version) (1 time)
- Minneapolis World Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
External links
- Pro Football Hall of Fame: Member profile
- Bronko's Bust at the Pro Football Hall of Fame
- College Football Hall of Fame: Member profile
- Bronko's Career Stats
- Member of the Cold, Hard Football Facts.com "All-Time 11" (2006)
- New York Times Obit