In two weeks in New York City, the Heisman Trophy will be awarded for the 75th time to the best player in college football. It was nearly 67 years ago that a Youngstown man and the city's lone Heisman winner, Frank Sinkwich, won the coveted award.
We begin his story in the present at his alma mater, Chaney High School. You'll find the bulk of the school's Sinkwich memorabilia in a small storage room around the corner from the gym.
That's where former Chaney coach Ron Berdis has a box full of programs, magazines and news clippings -- a virtual resume of Sinkwich's career. But keep walking, and you'll enter the school's football wall of fame. Ron Berdis's picture is up there -- as is Mike Deniro's, Brad Smith's and Mike Zordich's -- right beside that of Frank Sinkwich.
"He was the best college football player in the country and went on to be the best professional football player in the country," Berdis said.
Sinkwich was a three-year starter at Chaney from 1936 to 1938 -- a span in which Chaney won the then-coveted Youngstown City Series title all three years. As a junior and senior, Sinkwich was Youngstown's best player -- his name constantly in the headlines -- having been named to the city's prestigious all-city team both years.
But his rise to national fame began after Chaney and when he signed to play football at the University of Georgia.
"As a junior, flat foot Frankie led the bulldogs to a 9-11 record," Berdis said.
Sinkwich put Georgia football on the map. He could both run and pass. He played most of his junior season with a broken jaw, which required a protective guard, and still led the nation in rushing.
The 1942 Orange Bowl was his career game. Sinkwich ran for one touchdown and threw for three more as Georgia beat TCU. The next year he scored the only touchdown in the Rose Bowl in a win over UCLA.
For his efforts, Sinkwich, four years out of Chaney High School, was awarded the Heisman trophy.
"Let me tell you this is one of the biggest moments in my life, which is one of two up to date," Sinkwich said while accepting the Heisman. "One is receiving this trophy, and the other was when the U.S. marines let me put this uniform on."
Sinkwich never actually got a trophy that night. It was the middle of World War II, and metals were scarce. He was given a certificate -- the trophy came later.
And not long after the award Sinkwich was discharged from the Marines for having flat feet, thus the nickname flat foot Frankie. Instead he spent two years in the NFL with the Detroit Lions and was all-pro both years. In 1945, a knee injury ended his career.
But what a career it was. Headlines at Chaney, the Heisman at Georgia, and all-pro in the NFL -- all for the boy from Youngstown.
After the pros, Sinkwich coached a few years and then settled in Athens, Ga., and ran a beer distributor business. But he returned to Youngstown often, each time being greeted as hero. Frank Sinkwich died in 1990 after a long bout with cancer. He was 70 years old.
