James Ninowski obit

Former Michigan State football QB James Ninowski Jr. passes away at 88 years old

 

He was not on the list.

A Michigan State football legend has sadly passed away this week. James Ninowski Jr., who led the Spartans to a National Championship and Rose Bowl victory in his senior season under head coach Duffy Daugherty passed away last week on July 23rd at the age of 88.

Ninowski was the recipient of the MVP award during the college all star game before being drafted by the Cleveland Browns. He spent some time with the Detroit Lions after that before being traded back to the Browns. He ended his career in 1970 with the Washington Redskins.

Ninowski split duties at quarterback at Michigan State University in 1956 and was the starting quarterback in 1957 on squads that relied more on a running game than a passing attack. The 1957 Spartans finished #3 in the Associated Press poll behind #1 Auburn and rival Big Ten Conference champion Ohio State.

Ninowski was selected as offensive captain of the North team for the Christmas Day North-South Shrine Game played in Miami's Orange Bowl. He was selected the North team's Most Valuable Player in the game, won by the North 23–20, as he passed for 295 yards and one touchdown.

Ninowski was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the fourth round of the 1958 NFL draft. Playing in the 1958 Senior Bowl for the North squad, he squared off against his future head coach Paul Brown who served as coach for the South team. Ninowski passed for a fourth quarter touchdown to fellow Browns' draftee Jim Gibbons (fifth round) for the game's winning touchdown as the North won, 15–13.

Prior to joining the Browns for their 1958 exhibition season, Ninowski quarterbacked the College All-Stars to a 35–19 victory over the NFL champion Detroit Lions in the College All-Star Game on August 15. He teamed with fellow Browns' draftee and future Hall-of-Famer Bobby Mitchell for touchdown passes of 84 and 18 yards. The teammates were named co-Most Valuable Players for the game, with Ninowski setting All-Star game passing records with 14 completions in 20 attempts and 244 total passing yards.

Ninowski was among a group of Browns' quarterbacks that included Milt Plum, John Borton and Bobby Freeman competing for the starting job left open after the 1957 starter, Tommy O'Connell, had been cut prior to the opening of training camp. Paul Brown chose Plum as the starter and Ninowski saw spot duty as the backup in the 1958 and 1959 seasons, starting just one game, a 1958 midseason loss to the Lions.

On July 10, 1960, Ninowski was traded to the Detroit Lions for linebacker Bob Long and the Lions' 1961 first round draft choice, with which the Browns selected Bobby Crespino. Long chose not to report to Cleveland and was subsequently sent to the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for offensive end Leon Clarke.

Finally getting a chance to start, Ninowski started 10 of 12 regular season games for Detroit in 1960, posting a record of five wins and five losses as the Lions tied with the San Francisco 49ers for second place, one game behind the Green Bay Packers. Ninowski threw for 1,599 yards and two touchdowns. .

He started eight of the Lions 14 1961 regular season games with a record of 4–3–1 with the Lions going 8–5–1, good for second again behind the eventual NFL champion Packers (11–3 regular season record). Ninowski threw for 1,921 yards and seven touchdowns, sharing quarterbacking duties with Earl Morrall. .

In his final game for Detroit, Ninowski passed for two touchdowns to Terry Barr as the Lions defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 38–10 in the NFL's second annual Playoff Bowl, a post-season game played at the Orange Bowl in Miami. Florida. The game, played for 10 seasons, pitted the second-place teams from the League's Eastern and Western Divisions for third place in the NFL.