Vince Banonis, Lineman and Linebacker for the Cardinals and Lions

October 25th, 2010  |  Published in Player Deaths  |  1 Comment

1948 Bowman Vince Banonis football cardVince Banonis, an offensive lineman and linebacker for the Chicago Cardinals and Detroit Lions in the 1940s and 1950s, passed away on October 23. Banonis was a member of the Cardinals’ NFL championship team in 1947–the last time the Cardinals won the championship–and of the Lions’ championship teams in 1952 and 1953. A New York Times article about the 1947 Cardinals includes a great photo of a muddy Banonis with Charley Trippi.

Banonis appeared on three cards that I know of: the 1948 Bowman card pictured here, a 1948 Leaf card, and a 1949 Leaf card. I have not yet added the Leaf cards to the Vintage Football Card Gallery, but you can usually find them on eBay. The fronts of the 1948 and 1949 Leaf cards are identical, but the backs are different–see L is for Leaf for examples.

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  1. Mark says:

    November 8th, 2010 at 4:02 PM (#)

    Thanks for posting this notice of Vince’s passing. The photo of Vince and Trippi in the NY Times is a great one-
    it gives you a real sense of when the game was truly great.
    In my opinion, Vince deserves to be in the Pro Football HOF;
    if Frank Gatski is there, Vince should be as well.