Regarding Bronko Nagurksi I remember reading this story when I was a kid. This was taken from Wikipedia.

Nagurski was discovered and signed by University of Minnesota head coach Clarence Spears, who drove to International Falls to meet another player. On the outside of town, he watched Nagurski out plowing a field without assistance. According to legend, Spears asked directions and Bronko lifted his plow and used it to point.[1] He was signed on the spot to play for the Golden Gophers. Spears admitted he concocted the story on his long drive back to the university in Minneapolis.