Vince Banonis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Southfield, Michigan, U.S.
 Banonis in 1941 | |||||||||
| No. 11, 42, 32, 51 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Positions | Center, tackle, linebacker | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born | April 9, 1921 Detroit, Michigan, U.S. | ||||||||
| Died | October 23, 2010 (aged 89) Southfield, Michigan, U.S. | ||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||||
| Listed weight | 230 lb (104 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school | Catholic Central (Redford, Michigan) | ||||||||
| College | Detroit (1938–1941) | ||||||||
| NFL draft | 1942: 4th round, 29th overall pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
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| Awards and highlights | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Vincent Joseph Banonis (April 9, 1921 – October 23, 2010) was an American professional football player. He played college football at the University of Detroit where he was selected as a first-team All-American in 1940. He also played in the National Football League (NFL) for the Chicago Cardinals from 1942 to 1950, and for the Detroit Lions from 1951 to 1953. He was a first-team All-NFL player three times and played on three NFL championship teams. He was inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in 1975 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1986.
Banonis was born on April 9, 1921, in Detroit, Michigan, to a family of Lithuanian origin.[1] He attended Detroit Catholic Central High School. He was the center and captain for Catholic Central team that won a Detroit city championship.[2]
College football
Banonis enrolled at the University of Detroit in 1938 and played at the center position (on both offense and defense) for head coach Gus 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 by Collier's Weekly (selected by Grantland Rice),[4] International News Service,[5] and Paramount News.[6] He was also chosen as a second-team All-American by the Newspaper Enterprise Association.[7]