Norbert "Nobby" Wirkowski (August 20, 1926 – October 15, 2014) was an American and Canadian football player and coach. He is best known as

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

of the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team based in Toronto, Ontario. The Argonauts compete in the East Division (CFL), East Division of t ...

. The touchdown he engineered in the 1952

Grey Cup The Grey Cup () is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested between the winners ...

turned out to be the last offensive touchdown by the Argonauts in a

for 30 years. Born and raised in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, he excelled in athletics and became the first athlete at Crane Technical High School to letter in 3 sports (football, basketball, and baseball) since

George Halas George Stanley Halas Sr. (February 2, 1895 – October 31, 1983), nicknamed "Papa Bear", was an American professional football end, coach, and executive. He was the founder and owner of the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL), ...

accomplished the feat at the turn of the century. Wirkowski played for two exceptional football coaches while attending

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public university, public research university in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the second-oldest List of colleges and universities in Ohio, university in Ohi ...

. He started under

Sid Gillman Sidney Gillman (October 26, 1911 – January 3, 2003) was an American football player, coach and executive. Gillman's insistence on stretching the football field by throwing deep downfield passes, instead of short passes to running backs or wid ...

, whose ideas revolutionized the passing game in American football, and when Gillman left,

Woody Hayes Wayne Woodrow "Woody" Hayes (February 14, 1913 – March 12, 1987) was an American college football coach and player. He served as the head football coach at Denison University from 1946 to 1948, Miami University in Oxford, Ohio from 1949 to 195 ...

replaced him. Wirkowski led Miami to a 13–12 victory over

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship institution of the five- ...

in the 1948

Sun Bowl The Sun Bowl is a college football bowl game that has been played since 1935 in the southwestern United States at El Paso, Texas. Along with the Sugar Bowl and Orange Bowl, it is the second-oldest bowl game in the country, behind the Rose Bowl. ...

and then 3 years later put on a spectacular performance in the

Salad Bowl A salad bowl is a bowl-shaped serving dish used to serve salads, especially tossed salads. Materials Salad bowls may be made of any of the usual materials used for tableware, including ceramics, metal, plastic, glass, or wood. Salad bowls ca ...

. In that game Nobby completed 18 of 21 pass attempts, leading Miami past

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is one of the largest ...

. While at Miami, Wirkowski became a member of the

Phi Kappa Tau Phi Kappa Tau (), commonly known as Phi Tau (), is a collegiate fraternity located in the United States. The fraternity was founded in 1906. As of May 2024, the fraternity has 161 chartered chapters, 83 active chapters, 7 associate chapters, a ...

fraternity. After college, he joined the

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 The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at Commonwealth Stadium. The E ...

. From 1952 to 1957, Wirkowski coached the senior football team at

De La Salle College (Toronto) De La Salle College "Oaklands" (also known as De La Salle College, Toronto, or simply Del by the school community) is an Independent school, independent, co-educational, Catholic Church, Catholic college preparatory institution run by the Institut ...

which won consecutive league championships in 1955, 1956 and 1957. He was traded to Hamilton in 1955 where he played for two years and was then traded to Calgary. At the end of the 1959 season he returned to Toronto as back-up quarterback and assistant coach. The following year Nobby saw his final action as a professional player when he injured his knee in a preseason exhibition game with the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

. In 1963, Argonauts General Manager Lew Hayman promoted Wirkowski to the head coaching position after

Lou Agase Lou Agase (August 2, 1924 – June 26, 2006) was an American gridiron football player and coach of Assyrian ancestry. Playing career Agase played tight end and offensive tackle for the Illinois Fighting Illini football team from 1944 to 1947. ...

was fired. He served as the Argonauts head coach through the 1964 season, after which he was promoted to Director of Player Personnel. He served in that role through the 1967 season. After the 1967 season Wirkowski was approached by

York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...

. York was looking at starting a football program and needed a coach who could build a team 'from scratch.' He accepted the offer from York and was named Athletic Director and Head football coach and joined the Faculty of Physical Education as a professor. He coached York from 1968 to 1975 and from 1988 to 1989, and was an associate coach for the 1984 and 1987 seasons. He is a member of the

Athletic Hall of Fame and the Mississauga Hall of Fame. On October 15, 2014, Wirkowski died with his family at his side at the age of 88.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wirkowski, Nobby 1926 births 2014 deaths American football quarterbacks American emigrants to Canada American people of Polish descent Calgary Stampeders players Canadian football quarterbacks Canadian Football League announcers Hamilton Tiger-Cats players Miami RedHawks football players Players of American football from Chicago Players of Canadian football from Chicago Sportspeople from Mississauga Toronto Argonauts coaches Toronto Argonauts players