Frank Sinkwich

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Frank Sinkwich

Date of birth	October 10, 1920
Place of birth	McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania
Date of death	October 22, 1990
Position(s)	Halfback
College	Georgia
NFL Draft	1943 / Round 1/ Pick 1
Awards	1942 Heisman Trophy 1944 NFL MVP
Honors	Associated Press Number 1 athlete for 1942 University of Georgia Circle of Honor
Retired #s	Georgia Bulldogs #21
Records	NCAA single-season total offense record
Statistics	DatabaseFootball
Team(s)
1943-1944 1946-1947 1947	Detroit Lions New York Yankees Baltimore Colts
College Hall of Fame

Francis "Frank" Sinkwich (October 10, 1920 - October 22, 1990) won the Heisman Trophy in 1942, while playing at the University of Georgia, the first recipient from the Southeastern Conference.^[1] Twelve years later, after a brief but celebrated career in professional football that included being named the National Football League Most Valuable Player Award in 1944, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.^[1]

1 Early years
2 Football career
3 Legacy
4 References
5 External link

[edit] Early years

Sinkwich was born in the Pittsburgh suburb of McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, to immigrant parents who were ethnic Croatians from Russia.^[2] When he was still a child, his family relocated to Youngstown, Ohio, an industrial town situated near the western Pennsylvania border.

According to an article Sinkwich wrote in 1988, he grew to appreciate the value of competitiveness on the streets of Youngstown's West Side. "I learned early in neighborhood pickup games that I had the desire to compete", he wrote. "When people ask why I succeeded in athletics, I always tell them that I didn't want to get beat".^[1]

[edit] Football career

Sinkwich gained early recognition as a star athlete at Youngstown's Chaney High School.^[1] He went on to the University of Georgia and played under coach Wally Butts, where he was a two-time All-America selection and led the Bulldogs to an 11-1 season in 1942, capturing the Southeastern Conference Championship and a Rose Bowl victory over UCLA. That same year, the Washington, D.C., Touchdown Club honored Sinkwich as "back of the year",^[3], and he was overwhelmingly voted the Number 1 athlete for 1942 in the annual poll by the Associated Press over second-place finisher Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox,^[4] a year in which Williams was American League Batting Champion, American League Home Run Champion and hit for baseball's triple crown.

In his three-year college career, Sinkwich rushed for 2,271 yards, passed for 2,331 yards, and accounted for 60 touchdowns--30 rushing and 30 passing.^[1] He was the leading NCAA rusher in his junior season of 1941 with 1,103 yards. During his Senior year of 1942, Sinkwich set the NCAA single-season total offense record of 2,187 yards.^[5] Sinkwich earned his Bachelor of Science in Education (B.S.Ed.) from the University in 1943 and was a member of Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity.

After his collegiate career, Sinkwich joined the United States Marine Corps; however, he received a medical discharge in order to play with the Detroit Lions as their number one pick in the NFL Draft in 1943 (Sinkwich was also the overall number one pick in that draft).^[6] In Detroit, he earned All-Pro honors in 1943-1944, as well as being named as NFL MVP in 1944.^[1]

After his two years in Detroit, Sinkwich served in both the United States Merchant Marines and the United States Army Air Forces, but a knee injury received while playing for the 2nd Air Force service team in 1945 ended his playing career.^[1]^[6] He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1954.^[1]

[edit] Legacy

Sinkwich died after a long illness, in Athens, Georgia. Nowhere did his death elicit more emotion than at his old alma mater. "We've lost one of the great legends in football history," said then Georgia athletic director Vince Dooley. "He was not only a great player but a wonderful person and citizen of Athens".^[1]

[edit] References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ "Frank Sinkwich was worshipped by his fans", The Vindicator, October 23, 1990.
^ New Georgia Encyclopedia entry for Frank Sinkwich
^ The Vindicator, Youngstown, Ohio, June 14, 1982.
^ (December 28 1942) "Who Won". Time. Retrieved on 2007-01-06.
^ Magill, Dan [1993]. "Chapter 2", Dan Magill's Bull-Doggerel:Fifty Years of Anecdotes from the Greatest Bulldog Ever, 1st Printing, Marietta, Georgia: Longstreet Press, pp.43-48. ISBN 1-56352-089-3.
^ ^a ^b Grosshandler, Stan (August 1997). "Georgia's Greatest?". College Football Historical Quarterly Volume X (Number IV). Retrieved on 2007-01-06.

[edit] External link

Georgia Sports Hall of Fame

Preceded by Bruce Smith	Heisman Trophy Winner 1942	Succeeded by Angelo Bertelli
Preceded by Sid Luckman	NFL Most Valuable Player 1944 season	Succeeded by Bob Waterfield