What If? Bronko Nagurski's 1934 Season

Welcome to another entry of the What If? Fantasy Football edition. This is where I look back at a season long before fantasy football became prominent among us in our society as figure how the fantasy numbers would look if the fantasy game existed then. Today, we look back at the 1934 season for Chicago Bears star and Pro Football Hall of Famer Bronko Nagurski as well as his other lifetime accomplishments. I'm using the default scoring systems for Sporting News and Yahoo! to calculate the point totals.

Here's the point scale for SN(default configuration):
60 points for every touchdown
2 points for every rushing, receiving, and punt return yard gained
1 point for every kickoff return yard gained
2 points for every reception
1 point for every passing yard
-10 points for every kickoff return attempt
-45 points for lost fumble and interception
-2 points for incomplete pass

Here's the point scale for Yahoo!(default configuration):
6 points for every rushing, receiving, and return touchdown
4 points for passing touchdown
1 point for every 10 rushing and receiving yards
1 point for every 25 passing yards
2 points for every two-point conversion
-1 point for every interception
-2 points for every fumble
No points are given for receptions or return yardage in the default configuration.

Here are the stats for Bronko Nagurski in 1934 and fantasy points for the SN games:
Passing yards: 48 = 48 points
Passing touchdowns: 2 = 120 points
Incomplete passes: 9 = -18 points
Interceptions: 1 = -45 points
Rushing yards: 586 = 1,172 points
Rushing touchdowns: 7 = 420 points
Receptions: 3 = 9 points
Receiving yards: 32 = 64 points
Receiving touchdowns: 0 = 0 points
Fumbles Lost: 0 = 0 points
Total points: 1,770 points
Total points per game: 136.15
The Bears played in 13 games in 1934.

Here are the stats for Bronko Nagurski in 1934 and fantasy points for the Yahoo! game:
Passing yards: 48 = 1 points
Passing touchdowns: 2 = 8 points
Interceptions: 1 = -1 points
Rushing yards: 586 = 58 points
Rushing touchdowns: 7 = 42 points
Receiving yards: 32 = 3 points
Receiving touchdowns: 0 = 0 points
Fumbles Lost: 0 = 0 points
Total points: 111 points
Total points per game: 8.54
The Bears played 13 games in 1934.

Statistical source: pro-football reference

This was Nagurski's best statistical season in 1934. His numbers don't look impressive fantasy-wise until you see what era he played in.

During this same year, Nagurski's teammate Beattie Feathers was first player in NFL history to rush for 1,000 yards in a season. Also, players like Nagurski played both ways which factored into not having as good of numbers if they concentrated on one side of the ball. This would have made him an intriguing option if fantasy football would have existed then.

The Chicago Bears became the first team in the playoff era to go undefeated in a season. The team had star players in Nagurski, Feathers, and Red Grange to help power them to a 13-0 record. Though the Bears would come up short against the New York Giants in the NFL Championship, this was a very strong team.

Nagurski was one of football's biggest stars, and definitely one of it's most feared, too. Nagurski would have been a powerful presence in any era with his size at 6 feet two inches and weighing 235 pounds. He was bigger than many of the lineman of his time, and was notorius for his ultra-agressive play. He was the forerunner to many of the big and productive fullbacks that came along later.

Nagurski was such a versatile player that he was the first and only person in NFL history to be named All-Pro at three non-kicking positions(fullback, linebacker, offensive tackle). There was no one better at blocking and few could match his tackling ability on defense at the time. He also kicked a few extra points in his career including two in the 1934 season.

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