Nobby Wirkowski

Quarterback, American football player

1926 –

70

Who is Nobby Wirkowski?

Norbert "Nobby" Wirkowski is a retired American and Canadian football player and coach. He is best known as quarterback of the Toronto Argonauts. The touchdown he engineered in the 1952 Grey Cup turned out to be the last offensive touchdown by the Argonauts in a Grey Cup for 30 years.

Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, he excelled in athletics and became the first athlete at Crane Technical High School to letter in 3 sports since George Halas accomplished the feat at the turn of the century.

Wirkowski played for two exceptional football coaches while attending Miami University. He started under Sid Gillman, whose ideas revolutionized the passing game in American football, and when Gillman left, Woody Hayes replaced him. Wirkowski led Miami to a 13-12 victory over Texas Tech in the 1948 Sun Bowl and then 3 years later put on a spectacular performance in the Salad Bowl. In that game Nobby completed 18 of 21 pass attempts, leading Miami past Arizona State. While at Miami, Wirkowski became a member of the Phi Kappa Tau fraternity.

After college, he joined the Toronto Argonauts and took over the quarterbacking spot for Toronto, leading the Argonauts to a 7-5 record in the 1951 season. In 1952, Wirkowski led Toronto to a Grey Cup championship over the Edmonton Eskimos.

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Born
Aug 20, 1926
Chicago
Nationality
  • United States of America
Profession
Education
  • Miami University

Submitted
on July 23, 2013

Citation

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"Nobby Wirkowski." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.biographies.net/people/en/nobby_wirkowski>.

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