Larry Michael Kaminski (born January 6, 1945) is an American former professional football player who was a

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

for the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

of the American Football League (AFL) and

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played college football for the

Purdue Boilermakers The Purdue Boilermakers are the official intercollegiate athletics teams representing Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana. As is common with athletic nicknames, the Boilermakers nickname is also used as colloquial designation ...

Early life

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

descent, Kaminski is originally from Cleveland, Ohio, where he attended Cathedral Latin High School. As captain of the Lions, he helped lead the team to win the East Senate title and compete in the City Championship- Charity Game. Following his senior year he made numerous honors to include All-Ohio, High School All-American, and played in the Ohio All Star game in Canton, Ohio.

College career

Purdue awarded Kaminski a scholarship to attend the

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

University. Larry played all three varsity seasons as both a

and

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

. He was Captain of the freshman team. The Purdue teams coached by Jack Mollenkopf led by Hall of Famer Bob Griese beat Notre Dame and was ranked in the top 10 his senior year. Larry earned first-team All Big Ten honors and honorable mention All American. After the season ended he was invited to play in the

Blue-Gray Game Livid is a medium bluish- gray color. This color name comes from the Latin color term ''lividus'' meaning "'a dull leaden-blue color', and also used to describe the color of contused flesh, leading to the English expression 'black and blue'" ...

Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama and the county seat of Montgomery County. Named for the Irish soldier Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River, on the coastal Plain of the Gulf of Mexico. In the 202 ...

where he started the game at center. He graduated in 1966 with a BS Industrial Management. (Economics and Marketing).

Professional career

After graduation, Kaminski was preparing for a business career when the

asked to sign him as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

. He jumped on the opportunity and went to the weight room to beef up to 235 pounds. He made the Broncos roster and started at center for 13 games. After the season, he was mentioned for Rookie of the Year honorable mention. Kaminski's career lasted from 1966 to 1973. He experienced being a member of the first winning year for the Denver franchise. He also played in the first two wins the AFL had over the venerable NFL when the Broncos beat the Detroit Lions and

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...

. He was voted to be a member of the All-AFL Team in 1967 and played in the All Star game in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

. Being very active in the Denver community, he was nominated for NFL Man of the Year Honors in 1972 and 1973. Larry was a game captain several times in his tenure with the team. After a series of injuries, he decided to retire in 1974.

Life after football

After retirement, Larry Kaminski was awarded an

Anheuser Busch Anheuser-Busch Companies, LLC is an American brewing company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Since 2008, it has been wholly owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (AB InBev), now the world's largest brewing company, which owns multiple glo ...

franchise in Ski Town USA, Steamboat Springs, CO. He and former

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

great,

Walt Barnes Walter Lee Barnes (January 26, 1918 – January 6, 1998) was an American football guard and actor who played in National Football League (NFL) for four seasons. He played in the (NFL) for the Philadelphia Eagles and in college at Louisiana State ...

worked the business for several years. Walt sold out and Larry recruited his two sons to learn the business. Kaminski became active in the Steamboat community. Kaminski was one of the original inductees of the Denver Bronco Alumni Association Board of Directors. He and Jerry Sturm and Gene Mingo were the only players from the original Denver AFL franchise. (see www.remembertheAFL.com) Kaminski was the founding member of the Jack Mollenkopf Society to honor his former coach. Kaminski has recently been placed as a nominee for center on the Denver Bronco All 50 year Team. In 2019 the Denver Bronco fans elected him as one of the top 100 players on the Bronco franchise.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaminski, Larry 1945 births Living people American people of Polish descent Players of American football from Cleveland American football centers Purdue Boilermakers football players Denver Broncos (AFL) players Denver Broncos players American Football League All-Star players

Early life

College career

Professional career

Life after football

See also

References