Bronko Nagurski

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Lore & Background

Nagurski was born in Rainy River, Ontario, to a family of Ukrainian and Polish descent. His family moved to International Falls, Minnesota when he was five. He played college football for the Minnesota Golden Gophers from 1927 to 1929, was a consensus All-American in 1929, and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951. His professional career with the Chicago Bears began in 1930 and ended on two occasions in 1937 and 1943. He was an inaugural inductee into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963. In wrestling, he defeated Dean Detton on June 29, 1937 for a limited version of the world championship, then won the National Wrestling Association world title by defeating Lou Thesz on June 23, 1939. He lost that title to Ray Steele on March 7, 1940, regained it from Steele on March 11, 1941, and lost it to Sandor Szabo on June 5, 1941.

In Their Own Story

The 1932 NFL Championship remains a defining moment of Nagurski's career. Held indoors at Chicago Stadium due to cold weather, the game featured a controversial touchdown in the fourth quarter where Carl Brumbaugh handed off to Nagurski, who pulled up and threw to Red Grange for the score. Despite arguments that he hadn't dropped back five yards, the touchdown stood, securing a 9–0 victory over the Portsmouth Spartans. In 1943, with the Bears depleted by World War II, Nagurski returned from retirement. He played tackle until facing the Chicago Cardinals in a playoff game where he switched to fullback, scoring a touchdown in a 35–24 win that advanced the Bears to the championship. There, against Washington, he scored on a three-yard run as Chicago won 41–21. His physical dominance was such that he held the largest recorded NFL Championship ring size at 19+1⁄2 and wore a size-8 helmet.

Reader's Guide

Nagurski played fullback and defensive tackle. He helped the Bears win several division titles and two NFL championships. He ended his eight-year stint with 3,947 rushing yards on 856 attempts, completed 36 of 80 passes, and scored a total of 236 points. He wore a size-8 helmet. In a 1984 interview, he said he would probably be a linebacker if playing in the present day. He came out of retirement in 1943 due to World War II player shortages, playing tackle before returning to fullback against the Chicago Cardinals, scoring a touchdown in a 35–24 win. He also scored on a three-yard touchdown run in the 1943 NFL Championship Game. He retired again after 1943, became backfield coach for the UCLA Bruins for one year, then returned to farming. He wrestled until 1958.

Did You Know?

• Nagurski was discovered by University of Minnesota coach Clarence Spears, who legend says watched him plowing a field without assistance and saw him lift his plow to point directions.
• In his greatest collegiate game against Wisconsin in 1928, Nagurski wore a corset to protect cracked vertebrae, recovered a fumble, ran six straight times for a touchdown, and later intercepted a pass to seal the victory
• Nagurski had the largest recorded NFL Championship ring size and was probably the largest running back of his time, bigger than most linemen.
• An apocryphal story claims that after a scoring run against the Washington Redskins, Nagurski returned to the huddle and said, 'That last guy hit me awfully hard.'