NFL Greatest Players

Bronko Nagurski: Bronko Nagurski was the stuff of which legends are made -- a Paul Bunyanesque fullback who journeyed from a farm near Rainy River, Canada, to national acclaim as a two-position All-American at the University of Minnesota and to folk-hero status for the Chicago Bears.

He was bigger than most linemen of his era, a rock-solid 6-2, 226-pounder with massive arms and hands, a size-19 neck and powerful shoulders that punished tacklers.

Nagurski bulled his way through the NFL with head down, legs churning and bodies flying. It often took four defenders to make a tackle: two to grab hold and slow him down, one to knock him off balance and one to finish him off. Nagurski also was a devastating defensive tackle/linebacker and one of the greatest 60-minute players.

His career rushing totals, surprisingly low, could have been phenomenal if Bears coach George Halas had not valued him so highly on defense and as a blocker for the other thoroughbred backs he stockpiled on his roster.

Lost in the shadow of Nagurski's reputation as the ultimate power runner was his ability as a pioneer passer.

It was Nagurski who made the championship-securing touchdown pass to Red Grange in a 1932 indoor playoff battle against Portsmouth.

And he came back in the NFL's first official championship game a year later to throw for two TDs in a victory over New York. Nobody could dominate a game so thoroughly.

The man who came to symbolize the raw power and brute force of professional football played from 1930 to 1937, when he left the Bears in a salary dispute with Halas.

He returned six years later to help the war-strapped Bears and contributed a touchdown run in their 1943 championship game win over Washington.

Nagurski became a Hall of Fame charter member in 1963.