Rainy River native, Bronko Nagurski, put on US postage stamp

Ken Johnston
Editor

Did you know that football hall of famer Bronko Nagurski was born in Rainy River?
While he lived only a short time in Rainy River before moving to International Falls, Minnesota, one of the most famous and highly decorated football players in U.S. history was born in Rainy River in 1908. He was raised in International Falls and eventually played football with the Chicago Bears where he helped the team win the national championship several times.
Now the U.S. Postal Service has issued a stamp of Bronko as part of a series entitled “Early Football Heroes.”
Nagurski’s success had a tremendous impact on International Falls with all the school sports teams there hailing their respective venues as “Broncos”.
After retiring from football in 1937 Nagurski took up professional wrestling. However, during WWII he returned to football as teams were short of players due to the war. He returned for one season and scored a touchdown in the Bear’s 1943 championship against the Washington Red Skins.
He then returned to wrestling until his retirement in 1960. He retired to International Falls and ran a gas station there for a number of years. He passed away in 1990.
Descendants of his still live in the Falls area on the shores of Rainy Lake.