Malcycki brothers’ story the stuff of legend

They had to escape their Polish home because Russia had invaded and they ended up in Germany, where the whole family was put in a concentration camp.

Over the years the details got murky, but the Catholic Church and a family named Skorcz worked tirelessly for years and in 1949 the Malcycki family landed in Sheridan with nothing but the clothes on their back.

The dad, Wasyl, moved them to Little Rock to find work.

There, at Little Rock Central High School, the brothers Igor and Borys Malcycki, who had played soccer their whole lives, wanted to be part of the popular football team.

The teams that would become known as Wilson’s Tigers.

Igor, the oldest, was strong, tough and fearless. He knew nothing about football, but the head coach, Wilson Matthews, saw him kick a football and knew he had his place kicker.

Igor was a soccer-style kicker in the 1950s until Mathews got hold of him, bought him a square-toed shoe for kicking straight on and no one remembers if he ever missed.

They do remember the extra point that beat rival Pine Bluff during their long win streak.

Back then, the Tigers traveled by train all over the country to play games and Wasyl was more fond of all the family members finding jobs.

Legend is Matthews visited the home, matched Wasyl vodka shot for vodka shot and Igor became a Tiger.

Years later, Matthews would laugh and say he had America’s first soccer-style kicker and wouldn’t let him kick that way.

When Igor graduated from high school, he wanted to give back to his new country and joined the Army, who almost immediately sent him to Germany because he spoke fluent German.

Meanwhile, little brother Borys was also becoming part of Wilson’s Tigers, and after he continued his career at what was then Arkansas State Teachers College, where he caught a few passes and ran a few times.

Both were serious young men who spent considerable time at the Little Rock Boys Club near their east Little Rock home.

Borys would become a regular at Lamar Porter Field, where he umpired as many games as he could. It was his way of mixing the sports he loved so much and making a little money.

Eventually, Borys would end up working for Frank Broyles at the University of Arkansas. But that wasn’t the type of money he needed to take care of his family.

Through careful planning, hard work and some critical contacts, Borys ended up owning the first Coors distributorship in Northwest Arkansas.

He personally called on customers and in 1983 took the owner of a store in Berryville to the Great Alaskan Shootout to watch the Arkansas Razorbacks.

Borys ended up pictured on the front page of the Anchorage Daily News, wearing a hog hat and cheering for the Hogs.

Igor was a medic in the Army and after his honorable discharge went to work as a pressman at IBF and as a labor organizer.

While Borys was happy to pursue a more public life, Igor was quieter and preferred family gatherings.

Both, though, were quick to talk about how playing football, especially for Wilson Matthews, had impacted their lives.

They were born with a work ethic that Matthews took to another level.

Each had the reputation of being kind, honest and always willing to help someone in need, which they learned from their mother and father.

Borys died just a few years ago.

A week ago Saturday, Igor, holding the hand of his wife Mary Lou, took his final breath and as his wife said, “Became one of God’s angels.”

Igor and Borys Malcycki were legends in their new home country and will be remembered for many years.