 Banonis in 1941 | |||||||||
| No. 11, 32, 51 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Center /tackle /linebacker | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | (1921-04-09)April 9, 1921 Detroit, Michigan, U.S. | ||||||||
| Died: | October 23, 2010(2010-10-23) (aged 89) Southfield, Michigan, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 230 lb (104 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Catholic Central (Redford, Michigan) | ||||||||
| College: | Detroit Mercy | ||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1942: 4th round, 29th pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
| |||||||||
Vincent Joseph Banonis (April 9, 1921 – October 23, 2010) was anAmerican football player. He played college football at theUniversity of Detroit Mercy where he was selected as a first-team All-American in 1940. He also played in theNational Football League (NFL) for theChicago Cardinals from1942 to1950, and for theDetroit Lions from1951 to1953. He was a first-team All-NFL player three times and played on three NFL championship teams. He was inducted into theMichigan Sports Hall of Fame in 1975 and theCollege Football Hall of Fame in 1986.
Banonis was born on April 9, 1921, inDetroit, Michigan, to a family ofLithuanian origin.[1] He attendedDetroit Catholic Central High School. He was the center and captain for Catholic Central team that won a Detroit city championship.[2]
Banonis enrolled at theUniversity of Detroit in 1938 and played at thecenter position (on both offense and defense) for head coachGus Dorais'Detroit Titans football team from 1939 to 1941. In 1939, Detroit's line coach,Bud Boeringer, who had been an All-American center at Notre Dame, told reporters that he had never had a better candidate for center than Banonis.[3] He was reported to be "almost uncanny at diagnosing plays" on defense and to be "particularly strong on forward pass defense."[3] At the end of the 1941 season, Banonis was chosen as a first-round All-American byCollier's Weekly (selected byGrantland Rice),[4]International News Service,[5] and Paramount News.[6] He was also chosen as a second-team All-American by theNewspaper Enterprise Association.[7]
Banonis was selected by theChicago Cardinals in the fourth round of the1942 NFL draft with the 29th overall pick.[8] Banonis appeared in 11 games for the 1942 Cardinals and intercepted two passes that season.[8]
Banonis' football career was interrupted for three years by wartime service in theUnited States Navy during World War II.[2] He returned to the Cardinals in 1946 and remained with the club through the 1950 season. During his time with the Cardinals, he was selected as a first-team All-NFL player three times (1947, by UPI, 1948, by Chicago Herald Am. and NY Daily News, and 1949, by Int. News Service) and a second-team All-NFL player three times (1946, by NY Daily News, 1948, by Sporting News and UPI, and 1949, by UPI).[8] He intercepted 11 passes from 1946 to 1949 and led the NFL with 83 return yards on two fumble recoveries in 1947.[8] He was a member of the1947 Cardinals team that won the NFL championship.
In July 1950, Banonis' younger brother, Vic Banonis, was signed by the Cardinals after playing college football at Georgetown.[9] However, his brother did not appear in any regular season games in the NFL.
In 1951, Banonis was traded by the Cardinals to theDetroit Lions in exchange for offensive linemanJack Simmons.[2] Banonis appeared in 36 games at center for the Lions from 1951 to 1953 and played on the Lions' NFL championship teams in1952 and1953.[8] The Lions signed centerJoe Schmidt in 1953, and Banonis appeared in his last professional football game that year at age 32.
Banonis has been inducted into theMichigan Sports Hall of Fame (1975) and theCollege Football Hall of Fame (1986).[2] He died in 2010 at age 89 at Providence Hospital inSouthfield, Michigan.[2][10] He was buried at the Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Southfield.[11]
Told of Banonis' performance, Bulger laughed. "He was always singing these Lithuanian songs," Bulger said. "Oh, what a football player he was."