Francis "Frank" Sinkwich (October 10, 1920 – October 22, 1990) won the 1942 Heisman Trophy as a player for the University of Georgia, making him the first recipient from the Southeastern Conference. In the course of a brief but celebrated career in professional football, Sinkwich was selected for the National Football League Most Valuable Player Award. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1954 .
Sinkwich was born in the Pitts...
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Francis "Frank" Sinkwich (October 10, 1920 – October 22, 1990) won the 1942 Heisman Trophy as a player for the University of Georgia, making him the first recipient from the Southeastern Conference. In the course of a brief but celebrated career in professional football, Sinkwich was selected for the National Football League Most Valuable Player Award. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1954 .
Sinkwich was born in the Pittsburgh suburb of McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, to immigrant parents who were ethnic Croatians from Russia. When he was still a child, his family relocated to Youngstown, Ohio, a steel-manufacturing center near the Pennsylvania border.
According to an article Sinkwich wrote in 1988, he grew to appreciate the value of competitiveness on the streets of Youngstown's west side. "I learned early in neighborhood pickup games that I had the desire to compete", he wrote. "When people ask why I succeeded in athletics, I always tell them that I didn't want...
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