Tweet This episode we fire up the DeLorean and head back to explore the life and career of Bronko Nagurski, the original Monster of the Midway.  Bronko was one of the most feared runners and defenders of the early Chicago Bears.  He was famously known for one of the greatest comebacks in sports history, returning to the game after a 6 year hiatus.  He was also a world champion professional wrestler.  So strap on your seat belt, and let’s get ready to take this baby up to 88mph.
 
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Read Full Transcript Introduction On January 8th, 2011 Marshawn Lynch (affiliate link) went full beast mode on one of the most legendary runs of all time. The 12th man crowd stomped so hard in excitement; it generated seismic activity mimicking an earthquake. In this episode, I’m going to tell you the name of the man that had a run that was a precursor to the famous "Beast Quake" (affiliate link).
Intro Music Welcome to the Football History Dude Podcast, where each episode is a journey back in time to learn about the rich history of the NFL. Your host is Arnie Chapman. Football is his passion and he wants you to come along with him to explore the yesteryear of the gridiron. So hop on board his DeLorean and let's get this baby up to 88 miles per hour (Great Scott).
Bronko’s Early Life This time we step off the DeLorean and the date is November 3rd, 1908. We are in Rainy River, Ontario. Which happens to be a border town across International Falls, Minnesota. I hope that you brought your passport with you because we’re going to the neighbors up to the north of us. The reason we’re going up there is because our hero was born in Canada and his name was Bronislau Nagurski. Which is better known to you and me as, Bronko Nagurski (affiliate link). In the last solo episode we talked about Red Grange that had a Zeus-like lightning power to him. But this guy, Mr. Bronko, was a thundering, rumbling, hammer-wielding powerhouse of a man. Kind of reminds me of Madden. The game that most of you, many of you have probably played ever since the inception of the game and if you’re like me purchase the new one each year. They don’t have him in there anymore, but back in the day, it used to be him and a lot of times Pat Summerall and they would have these one-liners that in between plays you would get to hear the famous John Madden one-liners. One of my favorites was a total spot-on description of this guy. Lets paint a picture here; in Madden I got this dude running the ball, pressing the hit stick. I don’t think they had the hit stick back then. This is an earlier rendition. Anyway, running the ball-smash. Jump cutscene to a huddle and then in the middle John Madden goes, “That guy worked as a bulldozer in the off season”. That right there would be the guy we’re going to talk about, Mr. Bronko Nagurski. He was a road grader unlike the league had ever seen before. But we have to go a little bit back. We have to start this thing fresh and we have to go back to his childhood days - his early life. And one of the first things we talk about is how did this dude get the name Bronko? I thought his name was Bronislau. I might be butchering that a little bit, but just in case, because it’s an audio for you- I’m just going to spell Bronislau. Reason why he had that name is because his parents, Michael and Emilia, were Ukrainian immigrants and farmers. I do not know how truthful this is, but a story in the LA Times for his obituary said that Bronislau was changed to Bronko by a teacher that was perplexed by his mothers accent. She couldn’t understand it, so somehow this came up Bronko. So I declare if