YouTube - Notre Dame Football

Here's some clips of the Fighting Irish in action

YouTube - Notre Dame Football

The Author of the Infamous Article

*Grantland Rice (1880-1954)
*Born in Murfreesboro, Tennessee
*American sportswriter
*Known as the Voice of Sports during the 1920s, and considered a pioneer in the development of modern sports journalism.
*Educated at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee
*He moved to Atlanta and finally, New York where he worked as a writer.
*Rice filled his writing with literary traits, often adding his own poems to his stories
*From 1901-1911 Rice was a reporter on various newspapers, including the Atlanta Journal and the Cleveland News
*After 1911 he wrote about sports events, successively, in the New York Evening Mail, Tribune, and Sun.
*Rice's column of sporting news, comment, and gossip, “The Sportlight,” was nationally syndicated in 1930.
*Rice was the president of a company producing motion picture documentaries about sports.
*He immortalized Notre Dame's outstanding 1924 backfield as "The Four Horsemen," nicknamed Red Grange "The Galloping Ghost”
*Authored one of the most frequently quoted poetic couplets in all of sport: "For when the One Great Scorer comes to mark against your name, / He writes--not that you won or lost--but how you played the Game.”

*Grantland Rice’s Works

Non-Fiction
* The Winning Shot (with Jerome Dunstan Travers, 1915)
* The Boy's Book of Sports (1917)
* The Duffer's Handbook of Golf (with Claire A. Briggs, 1926)
* Understand Football (with John William Heisman, 1929)
* The Omnibus of Sport (editor, with Harford Powel, 1932)
* Spalding's Golf Guide 1932 (editor, 1932)
* The Bobby Jones Story: From the Writings of O.B. Keeler (1953)
* The Tumult and the Shouting: My Life in Sport (1954)
* The Best of Grantland Rice (1963)

Poetry
* Base-Ball Ballads (1910)
* Songs of the Stalwart (1917)
* Songs of the Open (1924)
* Only the Brave and Other Poems (1941)
* Steel and Flame: A Collection of War Poems (1942)
* The Final Answer and Other Poems (1955)

The Fighting Irish football

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team is the football team of the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. The team competes as an Independent at the NCAA Football Subdivision level. It is one of the two Catholic universities that field a team in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Their home games are played on Notre Dame's campus at Notre Dame Stadium, also known as "House that Rockne Built," which has the capacity of 80,795.
Notre Dame has the most consensus national championships. They produced more All-Americans than any other Football Bowl Subdivision school, however their beginning was not so great.
The Fighting Irish played their first game on November 23, 1887. Michigan shut them out and they lost with a score of 8-0. Their losing continue to flourish and they didn't get a W in their column until the last game in the 1888 season when they won against Harvard Prep with a score of 20-0. Between 1887 and 1899 Notre Dame had a record of 31 wins, 15 losses, and four ties.
At the beginning of the twentieth century college football began to increase in popularity and became standardized in 1906 with the IAAUS, which later became the NCAA in 1910. Notre Dame starting achieving more success during this time and got their first victory over Michigan in 1909 by a score of 11-3. By the end of the 1912 season they acquired a record of 108 wins, 31 losses, and 13 ties.
The luck of the Irish really began to grow in 1918 when they got one hell of a coach in Knute Rockne. Under his leadership the Irish had 105 wins, 12 losses, and 5 ties. Once a player for Notre Dame, Rockne led his team to six national championships, five undefeated seasons, a Rose Bowl victory 1925, and produced players such as the "Four Horsemen." Rockne has the highest win percentage (.881) in college football history. The last game he coached was on December 14, 1930, when he coached a group of Notre Dame All Stars against the New York Giants in NY. Fifty-thousand fans turned out to see the reunited "Four Horsemen" along with players from Rockne's other championship teams to take the field against the pros. Rockne died n Kansas on March 31, 1931 in a plane crash, while on his way to help in the production of the film The Spirit of Notre Dame. The crash site now features a Rockne Memorial.
Notre Dame has the 2nd highest winning percentage in the NCAA. They have produced the largest number of players to go on to play in the NFL. Notre Dame has graduated 98.74% of its football players in four years. Seven of their players have won the Heisman Trophy. Also Notre Dame is the only team professional or college, to have all of its games broadcast nationally on the radio and is the only college football team to have all of its home games televised nationally.

Knute Rockne-Legendary Coach

*Knute Kenneth Rockne
*Born on March 4, 1888 in Voss , Norway
*Highly regarded as college football's greatest head coach.
*To this day, no head coach in the history of the game has had the same success as Rockne.

*The Young Years
*Rockne's father, a carriage maker, brought the family from Norway to the Logan Square district of Chicago, Illinois when Knute was just five.
*Rockne first played football on the sandlots of his neighborhood
*Eventually played end for the Logan Square Tigers.
*As a teen, he attended North West Division High School in Chicago where he ran track and played football.
*After High School/College
*Rockne took a job as a mail dispatcher with the Chicago Post Office for four years.
*After saving enough money to continue his education, Rockne boarded a train and headed to South Bend, Indian.
*At the age of 22, Rockne passed the entrance exam and enrolled at Notre Dame.
*During Rockne's freshman year he played as a scrub on Notre Dame's varsity football team. *Unsatisfied with his football career, he quickly turned his attention to track where he set a school record (12-4) in the indoor pole vault.
*Rockne's accomplishments on the track ultimately motivated him to give football a second chance
*Named to Walter Camp's All-America football squad as a third-string end.
*In 1913 Rockne served as captain of the football team, and along with his roommate, quarterback Gus Dorais, led the Irish to a 35-13 victory over the highly-ranked Army Cadets.
*Rockne graduated magna cum laude with a 90.52 (on a scale of 100) grade point average and was offered a job at his alma matter as a graduate assistant in chemistry.
*He accepted the school's offer under the condition that he would be allowed to help coach the football team.
*When Jesse Harper, head coach of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish retired in 1917, Rockne was named his successor.

*Football Head Coach at Notre Dame
*Head coach from 1918 to 1930
*Rockne set the greatest all-time winning percentage of .881. This mark still ranks at the top of the list for both college and professional football.
*During his 13-year tenure as head coach of the Fighting Irish, Rockne collected 105 victories, 12 losses, five ties and six national championships.
*Rockne also coached Notre Dame to five undefeated seasons without a tie.
*Rockne was known as one of the most innovative and charismatic coaches of his era.
*He was the first football coach to initiate intersectional rivalries and build a national schedule. *Rockne is well known for coaching the most dazzling, dramatic, idolized athlete of all time, George "Gipper" Gipp.
*Gipp's running, passing, kicking and generalship lifted the Notre Dame Fighting Irish to national fame. Gipp was Notre Dame's first All-American and the famous subject of Rockne's motivating halftime speech in which he coined the phrase, "Win one for the Gipper."
*Rockne coached the "Four Horsemen" - (consisted of Harry Stuhldreher, Don Miller, Jim Crowley and Elmer Layden.)
*Rockne and the "Four Horsemen" led Notre Dame to a 28-2 record.
*During the off season, Rockne was needed in Los Angeles to assist in the production of the film "The Spirit of Notre Dame."

*The Innovative Coach
*The mark that Rockne left on the game of football is immeasurable and unique.
*He aided in the development of the forward pass and in doing so helped increase football's mass appeal.
*Using his knowledge of the human anatomy, Rockne was keen on designing his own equipment.
*Understanding the importance that speed plays in the game of football, his designs reduced bulk and weight without sparing protectiveness.
*Rockne introduced to the Notre Dame uniform a pair of gold, satin and silk pants that cut down on wind resistance.

*The Tragedy
*After visiting his two sons in Kansas City, Missouri, Rockne boarded Transcontinental-Western's Flight 599 to Los Angeles on March 31, 1931.
*Shortly after takeoff, one of the plane's wings separated in flight and the aircraft plummeted into a wheat field near Bazaar, Kansas
*There were no survivors.
*Rockne died at the age of 43.

The Fighting Irish-Then and Now

*Since the 1924 season, the Fighting Irish have had 10 instances in which they were named national champions, including most recently in 1988, under leghendary coach Lou Holtz, as well at 11 undefeated seasons.
*Since then, however, Notre Dame football has dropped off significantly. It's been so bad, that their football team has not won a bowl game since the 1993 Cotton Bowl in a 24-21 win over Texas A&M. They've played in a few big bowls since, including the 1994 Fiesta (L Colorado 41-24), 1995 Orange (L Florida State 31-26), 2000 Fiesta (L Oregon State 41-9), 2005 Fiesta (L Ohio State 34-20) and most recently 2006 Sugar (L LSU 41-14).
*Since their 2006 Fiesta Bowl loss, the team has taken a pitfall, into the NCAA Divison 1A dog house, going 3-9 in 2007, which involved their first loss to Navy in over 35 years and finishing a bysmal 6-6 in 2008, which included a loss to a Syracuse team who had fired their coach less than a week prior to their meeting.

*The Irish have had legendary coaches such as Knute Rockne, who coached the Four Horsemen, Frank Leahy, who led Notre Dame to four AP National Championships, Ara Paresghian, who won two national titles and was considered by many as the best coach in the country during his tenure there, Dan Devine, who followed Ara by winning the 1977 National Title, and the afore mentioned Lou Holtz who gave them their most recent National Title in 1988, beating West Virginia 34-21 in the Fiesta Bowl.

*Going back in time for the Irish brings up a lot of memorable football games, like the "Game of the Century" played between Notre Dame and Ohio State in 1935, where both teams met undefeated and played a hard fought battle, which culminated in an 18-13 victory for the Irish.

*A second "Game of the Century" was played against Army in 1946, as well as a third in 1966 vs. Michigan State.

*Another amazing claim to fame the football program has is seven members proud to bear the name "Heisman Trophy Winner". These winners include Angelo Bertelli in 1943, Johnny Lujack 1947, Leon Hart 1949, Johnny Lattner 1953, Paul Hornung 1956, John Guarte 1964 and most recently Tim Brown of the 1988 National Championship Team, won the award the previous year in 1987.

*Notre Dame has also been blessed with five different Maxwell Award Winners, which goes to the most valuable player of the year, as voted on by the sportswriters, sportscasters and NCAA head coaches. Irish winners include Leon Hart in 1949, Johnny Lattner in 1952 and 1953, Jim Lynch in 1966, Ross Browner in 1977, and Brady Quinn in 2006. Quinn went on to finish 3rd in the Heisman voting that year.

*48 Notre Dame coaches and players lie immortalized in the College Football Hall of Fame, leading all universities in players inducted. All four horseman are members, as well as legends like Angelo Bertelli, Jack Cannon, Dan Devine, George "The Gipper" Gipp, Frank Hoffman, Paul Hornung, Frank Leahy, Ara Parseghian, Knute Rockne, John "Clipper" Smith, Joe Theismann, and Chris Zorich.

T*heir program tradition has led to many of their players having great successes in the National Football League. In total, the Irish have had 61 players be selected in the 1st round of the NFL draft, five number one overall picks and a total of 463 players.
*Their number one overall selections were QB Angelo Bertelli in 1944 to the Boston Yanks, ironically QB Frank Dancewicz in 1946 to the Boston Yanks, DE Leon Hart in 1950 to the Detroit Lions, QB Paul Hornung in 1957 to the Green Bay Packers, and DE Walt Patulski in 1972 to the Buffalo Bills.

*10 former Notre Dame members are inshrined in the NFL Hall of Fame, including Joe Montana, Curly Lambeau, and Paul Hornung.
*They also have 43 players currently on NFL rosters. So as you can see, though they're struggling mightily as of late, they maintain a strong and presitigous history in the NCAA Football World and will hope to get back on top on the years to come, with their coach Charlie Weis and top prospect recruit Jimmy Claussen.

The Legendary Four

The Football Facts
*The Four Horsemen of Notre Dame comprised a winning group of football players at the University of Notre Dame under coach Knute Rockne.
*They were the legendary backfield of Notre Dame's 1924 football team.
*None of the four stood taller than six feet and none of the four weighed more than 162 pounds, the Four Horsemen might comprise the greatest backfield ever.
*The players that made up this group were Harry Stuhldreher, Don Miller, Jim Crowley, and Elmer Layden.
*The Four Horseman had run rampant through Irish opponents' defenses since coach Knute Rockne devised the lineup in 1922 during their sophomore season.
*Notre Dame won 37 of its 41 games during the amazing four-year run of the "Four Horsemen", losing just three times and tieing once.
*The quartets' secured their fame with Notre Dame's 13-7 victory over Army in 1924.
*After that momentous win, the Irish recorded a 27-10 win over Stanford in the 1925 Rose Bowl
*Notre Dame finished the year a perfect 10-0 and was named by Sportswriters college football's national champion.

The Making of Football Legends
*It wasn't until late in that championship season that the foursome of Stuhldreher, Miller, Crowley and Layden was first called the "Four Horsemen".
*While watching Notre Dame defeat Army on October 18, 1924, popular sportswriter Grantland Rice recalled the Biblical devastation of the "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" in the opening sentence of his newspaper column for the New York Herald Tribune (See post on The Article) helping the foursome achieve football immortality.
*In 1924, a dramatic nickname coined by a poetic sportswriter and the quick-thinking actions of a clever student George Strickler (Coach Rockne’s publicity aide and later Sports Editor of the Chicago Tribune) helped transform the quartet in college football history, the Four Horsemen of Notre Dame.
*After the team arrived back in South Bend, Strickler had the four players dressed in their uniforms, on the backs of four horses from a livery stable in town and took the now infamous picture.

"At the time, I didn't realize the impact it would have," Jim Crowley said later. "But the thing just kind of mushroomed. After the splurge in the press, the sports fans of the nation got interested in us along with other sportswriters. Our record helped, too. If we'd lost a couple, I don't think we would have been remembered."

Elmer Layden-Fullback

*Elmer Francis Layden
*Born May 4, 1903 in Davenport, Iowa
*He attended Davenport High School (Now Davenport Central High School)
*Considered one of the best backfields in college football history
*Layden was the fastest out of the Four Horsemen and boasted a 10-second speed in the 100-yard dash
*He was married to the former Edith Davis on October 25, 1926.
*Layden was a solid, competent coach, he was subjected to criticism during his later years at Notre Dame. Critics felt that his teams played too conservatively and lacked scoring punch. Consequently it was felt that they lost games they should have won.
*After leaving the NFL, he embarked on a successful business career in Chicago
*Layden died in 1973 at the age of 70.

*Football Career
*Fullback for Notre Dame College and in the Four Horsemen formation
*Named an All-American during his senior year
*Layden culminated his collegiate career in the 1925 Rose Bowl against Stanford, returning two interceptions for touchdowns in Notre Dame's 27-10 victory.
*Layden served as head football coach at Columbia College (Dubuque, Iowa) in 1925-26, where he compiled an 8-5-2 record.
*From 1927 to 1933 he was head coach at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, going 48-16-6 and winning the 1933 season's Festival of Palms Bowl (a precursor to the Orange Bowl) on New Year's Day, 1934.
*In 1934, he became head coach and athletic director at Notre Dame, a few years after his legendary mentor Knute Rockne was killed in a plane crash.
*Layden lead the Irish for seven years and posted an overall 47-13-3 docket.
*His 1935 squad posted one of the greatest wins in school history by rallying to defeat Ohio State, 18-13.
*His 1938 team finished 8-1, losing only to USC in the season finale. This loss cost them a possible consensus national championship, but the Dickinson System named the team national champion.
*Layden left Notre Dame in Feb. 1941 to become the Commissioner of the National Football League (NFL) until 1946
*He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951 as a charter member.
*Layden coached at his alma mater for seven years and compiled a 47-13-3 record.