Bronko Nagurski Jr.

Bronko Nagurski Jr. was born in Minneapolis on December 25, 1937. He began his high school football career under Coach Gordon Paschka in 1951, and after Frank "Butch" Larson became head coach of the Broncos in 1952, he finished high school under Larson while helping lead the team to two Iron Range Conference titles and a State Championship in 1954. He also starred in hockey and baseball. After earning All-Conference, All-State, and All-American football honors, he was heavily recruited nationally, initially chose the University of Minnesota, then changed his mind and enrolled at the University of Notre Dame, where Terry Brennan coached him and he earned a starting tackle position from 1956-58. A college highlight came in the 1957 Oklahoma game, when the Irish ended the Sooner's forty-eight game winning streak. Following his distinguished college career, he was drafted by the NFL's San Francisco 49ers and the CFL’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats. He went to Hamilton in 1959 and had an outstanding career, earning All-Eastern Conference honors four times and All-Canadian honors in 1963 and 1965, while playing in six Grey Cup games and helping the Tiger-Cats win the title in 1963 and 1965. The oldest of six children born to Bronko and Eileen (Kane) Nagurski, he died on March 7, 2011 at the age of 73.

International Falls, Minnesota · United States