The 50 Greatest Players in Chicago Bears History. Robert W. Cohen
Following his graduation from Bemidji High School, Nagurski accepted an athletic scholarship from the University of Minnesota after the school’s head football coach, Clarence Spears, while driving through International Falls to meet another player, discovered Nagurski plowing a field by himself.
Beginning his college career in 1927, Nagurski spent the next three seasons gradually transitioning from guard and end to defensive tackle and fullback. Excelling at all four posts for the Golden Gophers, Nagurski established a fearsome reputation on both offense and defense, gaining All-America recognition three straight times. Particularly dominant as a senior in 1929, Nagurski performed so well on both sides of the ball that he became the only player ever to earn All-America honors at two positions in the same season.
Subsequently signed by George Halas for the then-princely sum of $5,000, Nagurski arrived in Chicago in 1930, with his 6'2", 225-pound frame making him easily the league’s largest running back. Since the NFL did not begin keeping an official record of offensive statistics until 1932, the amount of yardage that Nagurski gained on the ground his first two years in the league remains a mystery. However, he clearly had an enormous impact on his new team, helping the Bears improve their record from 4-9-2 in 1929 to 9-4-1 in 1930, with his outstanding play earning him Second-Team All-Pro honors two straight times.
Nagurski then led the Bears to three consecutive division titles and a pair of NFL championships from 1932 to 1934, with the team compiling an overall record of 30-3-7. Gaining First-Team All-Pro recognition all three years, Nagurski established himself as the league’s dominant player on both sides of the ball. After finishing second in the NFL with 533 yards rushing and leading the league with four rushing touchdowns in 1932, Nagurski gained a total of 1,119 yards on the ground over the course of the next two seasons. Although those numbers might not seem overly impressive, it must be considered that the George Halas Bears were not viewed as a collection of stars, but, rather, as a team whose members paid little attention to their individual statistics. Explaining during a 1984 interview with Paul Zimmerman of Sports Illustrated why he never posted huge rushing totals, Nagurski, who averaged fewer than 10 carries a game over the course of his career, said, “Halas stockpiled backs, and he believed in spreading it around. Plus, he wanted to keep me fresh for defense, where I’d put in a full afternoon. How many of today’s 1,000-yard runners would like to spend half the game playing defense?”
Despite the relatively modest numbers that Nagurski compiled on offense, he gained general recognition as the premier running back of his time, with New York Giants head coach Steve Owen once saying, “How do I plan to stop Nagurski? With a shotgun as he’s leaving the dressing room.”
Bronko Nagurski intimidated his opponents with his bruising style of play.
Courtesy of RMYAuctions.com
Instilling fear in his opponents with his destructive style of running, Nagurski made even the league’s greatest players cringe at the thought of challenging him on the football field, with Giants Hall of Famer Mel Hein stating, “If you went at him low, he would stomp you to death. If you went at him high, he just knocked you down and ran over you.”
Ernie Nevers of the Chicago Cardinals suggested, “Tackling Bronko was like trying to stop a freight train running downhill.”
In discussing the manner in which he disposed of would-be tacklers, Nagurski said, “Just before they got to me, I’d knock ’em out of the way and keep running.”
Nagurski’s biographer, Harold Rosenthal, wrote, “He probably broke more bones, legitimately, than any other player. Contact with him, either trying to stop him as a runner, or trying to block him as a lineman, was extremely costly. If he hit you right, you suffered a broken shoulder.”
An enormous man, especially for the era in which he played, Nagurski had huge hands, powerful wrists, and an extremely thick neck, with Sid Luckman saying of his longtime teammate, “A monster. The neck, the hands. They measured him for a championship ring in 1943, when he made his comeback, and his ring size was 19½.”
Playing at a time when the average defensive lineman weighed close to 220 pounds, Nagurski gradually increased his playing weight to 238 pounds over the course of his career, enabling him to often drag multiple tacklers with him. An outstanding blocker as well, Nagurski frequently cleared the way for the team’s smaller running backs. In fact, on those occasions when Nagurski suffered an injury, instead of sitting on the bench, he sometimes assumed a spot on the offensive line. In addition to his size and strength, Nagurski possessed remarkable takeoff speed, accelerating rapidly when he first received the football.
Excelling on defense as well, Nagurski wreaked havoc on opposing offenses from his position on the defensive line, where the Bears often employed him as a ranging tackle or “Monster.” Displaying the same aggressiveness on that side of the ball that he exhibited on offense, Nagurski delivered violent hits to opposing linemen and ball-carriers, making them extremely wary of his presence.
In discussing the totality of Nagurski’s game, legendary sportswriter Grantland Rice claimed, “You could have played him at any position.”
Insisting that Nagurski exceeded the two men generally accepted as the greatest football players of the first few decades of the 20th century, Rice added, “Eleven Bronko Nagurskis would have beaten 11 (Jim) Thorpes or 11 (Red) Granges.”
Limited to only five games and 170 yards rushing by a back injury he sustained while delivering a block to an opposing defensive lineman, Nagurski failed to earn All-Pro honors for the first time in his career in 1935. In discussing the play that broke two of his vertebrae, Nagurski recalled, “I threw a cross-body block on an end—a stupid block—and I plowed into his knees with the small of my back.”
Returning to top form in 1936, Nagurski gained All-Pro recognition by rushing for 529 yards, before helping the Bears advance to the NFL championship game the following year by gaining 343 yards on the ground. Nevertheless, Nagurski, who had spent the previous few years supplementing his income by wrestling in his spare time, chose to retire from football and make wrestling his full-time profession after he and George Halas reached an impasse on a new contract following the conclusion of the 1937 campaign. In explaining his decision years later, Nagurski said, “I wanted to go home anyway. I was tired of knocking myself out, going on the wrestling tour between games to make extra money.”
Nagurski subsequently became World Heavyweight Champion three times between 1937 and 1941, before retiring from wrestling and returning to Minnesota to work on his farm. Nagurski remained in Minnesota until the Bears lured him out of retirement when a player shortage developed during World War II. Playing almost exclusively on the offensive and defensive lines in 1943, the 35-year-old Nagurski helped lead the Bears to the NFL title—their third with him serving as a member of the team. Retiring for good at season’s end, Nagurski concluded his playing career with 2,778 yards rushing, 2,912 yards from scrimmage, 25 touchdowns, 474 yards passing, seven TD passes, and a rushing average of 4.4 yards per carry.
Following his retirement, Nagurski continued to work on his farm and wrestle until 1960, when his many physical ailments forced him to adopt a more sedentary lifestyle. Suffering from arthritis and aching knees that endured numerous operations, Nagurski ran a gas station in International Falls, Minnesota, before returning to Rainy River, Ontario, where he became a fishing guide. Nagurski remained at his place of birth until January 7, 1990, when he passed away two months after celebrating his 82nd birthday.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
Best Season
Nagurski posted the best numbers of his career in 1934, when he earned First-Team All-Pro honors for the third straight time by averaging 4.8 yards per carry and ranking among the league leaders with 586 yards rushing, 618 yards from scrimmage, seven touchdowns, and 44 points scored.
Memorable