Bill Osmanski

After graduating from Central High School in Providence, Osmanski attended the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts.

[1] The pick paid immediate dividends for the Bears as Osmanski led the National Football League in rushing in 1939 with 699 yards.

[2] With a 68-yard run, Osmanski scored the first touchdown of Chicago's 73–0 victory over the Washington Redskins in the 1940 NFL Championship Game.

[5] In March 1945, he received a citation from the Marine Corps when he rescued a Navy doctor from quicksand while they were searching for bananas.

[6] After World War II ended, Osmanski was attached to the 2nd Marine Division serving as the occupying force in Nagasaki, Japan.

[7] On January 1, 1946, he captained the Nagasaki Bears in the Atom Bowl against Heisman Trophy winner Angelo Bertelli's Isahaya Tigers; after trailing 13–0 at halftime, Osmanski scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns.

Osmanski (second from left) and his brother Joe (center) with George Halas (far left), and fellow brothers Harold and Raymond Schumacher .