His professional career with the Chicago Bears, which began in 1930 and ended on two occasions in 1937 and 1943, also made him an inaugural inductee into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963.

Nagurski was discovered and signed by University of Minnesota head coach Clarence Spears, who had originally driven to International Falls to meet another player.

Legends aside, on his first day of practice Spears decided to test Nagurski in the "Nutcracker" drill, where a defensive player had to take on two blockers and try to tackle a following ball carrier.

On the first drill, two All-Big Ten linemen and Herb Joesting charged at Bronko, who promptly split the blockers and drove the big fullback into a blocking dummy.

Rice later wrote, "Who would you pick to win a football game: 11 Jim Thorpes, 11 Glen Davises, 11 Red Granges, or 11 Bronko Nagurskis?

Wearing a corset to protect cracked vertebrae, he recovered a Badger fumble deep in their territory, then ran the ball six straight times to score the go-ahead touchdown.

At 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) and 235 pounds (107 kg), he was a formidable presence, and a dominant force, helping the Bears win several division titles and two NFL championships.

In a 1984 interview with Sports Illustrated writer Paul "Dr. Z" Zimmerman, when asked what position he would play if he were coming up in the present day, he said, "I would probably be a linebacker today.

A time-honored and perhaps apocryphal story about Nagurski is a scoring gallop that he made against the Washington Redskins, knocking two linebackers in opposite directions, stomping a defensive back and crushing a safety, then bouncing off the goalposts and cracking Wrigley Field's brick wall.

[15][16] Chicago went on to win the 1943 title after beating the Washington Redskins 41–21, while Nagurski scored on a three-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.

[19] Two years later he returned to football for a brief time as general manager of the Sylvan Park Dead Cherokees, a semi-pro team in Tennessee.

Hitting his peak in the late 1930s, Nagurski won a limited version of the world championship by defeating Dean Detton on June 29, 1937.

[21] But he finally achieved full recognition with his first National Wrestling Association world title by defeating Lou Thesz on June 23, 1939.

"[31] After a three-day physical examination at Fort Snelling, the Army ruled him medically unfit due to injuries sustained during his football career.

On January 7, 1990, Nagurski died of cardiac arrest in International Falls, Minnesota, and is buried at its Forest Hill Cemetery.

At the University of Minnesota house of his fraternity, Sigma Chi, Nagurski's jersey and Significant Sig recognition certificate are on display.

[36] Sports Illustrated named Nagurski one of the four greatest athletes in Minnesota state history; the other three were Dave Winfield, Kevin McHale, and Joe Mauer.

Notable winners include Warren Sapp, Charles Woodson, Terrell Suggs, Champ Bailey and Derrick Johnson.

In 2000, he was voted the second-greatest Minnesotan sportsman of the 20th century by the sportswriters of the Star Tribune, coming in behind only Minnesota Twins Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett.

A fictionalized eyewitness account of Nagurski's 1943 comeback is the subject of a dramatic monologue in the 2001 film version of Hearts in Atlantis.