Frank Francis Sinkwich Sr. (October 10, 1920 – October 22, 1990) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

player and coach. He won the

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard ...

in 1942 playing for the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

, making him the first recipient from the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

. In the course of a brief but celebrated career in professional football, Sinkwich was selected for the

National Football League Most Valuable Player Award The National Football League Most Valuable Player Award (NFL MVP) is an award given by various entities to the American football player who is considered the most valuable in the National Football League (NFL) during the regular season. Organizati ...

. He coached the Erie (PA) Vets semi-professional football team in 1949. Sinkwich was inducted into the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...

in 1954.

Early years

Sinkwich was of

Croat The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic, Ge ...

origin.Croatian Chronicle Network
35 Pacific Northwest Croatian Athletes He was born in

Starjak Starjak is a village in Croatia. It is formally a settlement ( naselje) of Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medved ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

(about 12 miles west of Zagreb) as his mother had traveled back to Croatia in 1912.

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

broke out in 1914 and as with many, she and the children remained there for the duration of the war. They returned to the US, going to

Youngstown, Ohio Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio, and the largest city and county seat of Mahoning County, Ohio, Mahoning County. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Youngstown had a city population of 60,068. It is a principal city of ...

when he was two years old, joining his father Ignac (Ignatius) who operated a grocery store. By 1940, the family operated a restaurant in Youngstown. His surname was originally spelled Sinković. 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."

Football career

Sinkwich gained early recognition as a star athlete at Youngstown's Chaney High School. He went on to the University of Georgia to play under coach

Wally Butts James Wallace Butts Jr. (February 7, 1905 – December 17, 1973) was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head coach at the University of Georgia from 1939 to 1960, compiling a record of 140–8 ...

where he was a two-time

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

selection. In

1941 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January–August – 10,072 men, women and children with mental and physical disabilities are asphyxiated with carbon monoxide in a gas chamber, at Hadamar Eu ...

he led the nation in rushing yards with 209 carries for 1,103 yards. He set the NCAA single-season

total offense Total offense (or total offence) is a gridiron football statistic representing the total number of yards rushing and yards passing by a team or player. Total offense differs from yards from scrimmage, which gives credit for passing yardage to the ...

record of 2,187 yards and led the Bulldogs to an 11–1 season in

1942 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Declaration by United Nations is signed by China, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, and 22 other nations, in wh ...

, capturing the

championship and a victory over

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

in the 1943 Rose Bowl. That same year, the

Washington D.C. Touchdown Club The DC Touchdown Club, earlier known as The Touchdown Club of Washington, D.C., was started in 1935 with a passion for charity and sports. In the ensuing years the Club has benefited many local charities as well as providing scholarships to deservin ...

honored Sinkwich as "back of the year", and he was overwhelmingly voted the "Number 1 athlete for 1942" in the annual poll by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

over second-place finisher

Ted Williams Theodore Samuel Williams (August 30, 1918 – July 5, 2002) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, primarily as a left fielder, for the Boston Red Sox from 1939 ...

of the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

, a year in which Williams hit for baseball's

triple crown Triple Crown may refer to: Sports Horse racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United States) ** Triple Crown Trophy ** Triple Crown Productions * Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Trip ...

. The 1942 season was Sinkwich's first year of backfield-mate

Charley Trippi Charles Louis Trippi (December 14, 1921 – October 19, 2022) was an American professional football player for the Chicago Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL) from 1947 to 1955. Although primarily a running back, his versatility al ...

. Georgia defeated

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

75–0, the worst defeat in the history of Florida football. Sinkwich played with a

broken jaw Mandibular fracture, also known as fracture of the jaw, is a break through the mandibular bone. In about 60% of cases the break occurs in two places. It may result in a decreased ability to fully open the mouth. Often the teeth will not feel pr ...

and kicked a

field goal A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. The entire ba ...

in a 19–3 defeat of

in 1941. 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). Sinkwich earned his

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

in Education (B.S.Ed.) from the university in 1943 and was a member of the

Pi Kappa Alpha Pi Kappa Alpha (), commonly known as PIKE, is a college fraternity founded at the University of Virginia in 1868. The fraternity has over 225 chapters and colonies across the United States and abroad with over 15,500 undergraduate members over 30 ...

Fraternity A fraternity (from Latin language, Latin ''wiktionary:frater, frater'': "brother (Christian), brother"; whence, "wiktionary:brotherhood, brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club (organization), club or fraternal ...

. After his collegiate career, Sinkwich joined the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

; however, due to his flat feet he received a medical discharge and proceeded to play with the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

, who had selected him first overall in the

1943 NFL Draft The 1943 National Football League Draft was held on April 8, 1943, at the Palmer House Hotel in Chicago, Illinois. With the first overall pick of the draft, the Detroit Lions selected running back Frank Sinkwich. This draft is the first NFL draf ...

. In Detroit, he earned

All-Pro All-Pro is an honor bestowed upon professional American football players that designates the best player at each position during a given season. All-Pro players are typically selected by press organizations, who select an "All-Pro team," a list th ...

honors in 1943–1944, as well as being named as

NFL MVP The National Football League Most Valuable Player Award (NFL MVP) is an award given by various entities to the American football player who is considered the most valuable in the National Football League (NFL) during the regular season. Organizati ...

in 1944. (No Detroit Lions player would be named NFL MVP for over half a century:

Barry Sanders Barry Sanders (born July 16, 1968) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL), from 1989 to 1998 for the Detroit Lions. Sanders led the league in rushing yards four times and ...

in 1997.) After his two years in Detroit, Sinkwich served in both the

United States Merchant Marines United States Merchant Marines are United States civilian mariners and U.S. civilian and federally owned merchant vessels. Both the civilian mariners and the merchant vessels are managed by a combination of the government and private sectors, an ...

and the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

, but a knee injury received while playing for the

Second Air Force Superbombers football The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds each ...

team in 1945 hampered his playing career when he returned to professional football in 1946 and 1947. He coached the semi-professional Erie (PA) Vets football team in 1949. Sinkwich was inducted into the

in 1954.

Legacy

Sinkwich died after a long illness, in

Athens, Georgia Athens, officially Athens–Clarke County, is a consolidated city-county and college town in the U.S. state of Georgia. Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta, and is a satellite city of the capital. The University of Georgia, the sta ...

, at age 70. Nowhere did his death elicit more emotion than at his alma mater. "We've lost one of the great legends in football history," said then Georgia athletic director

Vince Dooley Vincent Joseph Dooley (September 4, 1932 – October 28, 2022) was an American college football coach. He was the head coach of the Georgia Bulldogs from 1964 to 1988, as well as the University of Georgia's (UGA) athletic director from 1979 t ...

. "He was not only a great player but a wonderful person and citizen of Athens."

Head coaching record

Notes

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sinkwich, Frank 1920 births 1990 deaths American football halfbacks Baltimore Colts (1947–1950) players Detroit Lions players Georgia Bulldogs football players Tampa Spartans athletic directors Tampa Spartans football coaches New York Yankees (AAFC) players Second Air Force Superbombers football players All-American college football players College Football Hall of Fame inductees Heisman Trophy winners National Football League first-overall draft picks United States Army Air Forces soldiers United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II Coaches of American football from Ohio Players of American football from Youngstown, Ohio Croatian emigrants to the United States Yugoslav emigrants to the United States United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II United States Merchant Mariners of World War II National Football League Most Valuable Player Award winners