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KF5JRV > TODAY 04.03.19 13:31l 54 Lines 2986 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 32169_KF5JRV
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Subj: Today in History - Mar 04
Path: IW8PGT<IR2UBX<SR1BSZ<F1OYP<ON0AR<GB7CIP<AB0AF<KF5JRV
Sent: 190304/1228Z 32169@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA BPQ6.0.18
On this day in 1888, Knute Rockne is born in Voss, Norway. He would go
on to become one of the most successful coaches in the history of
college football, coaching Notre Dame during their golden era in the
1920s. Rockne won three undisputed national championships with the
Fighting Irish, and helped to transform Notre Dame from an unknown
program into the most popular college football team in the United
States.
Rockne’s family immigrated to the United States from Norway when Knute
was five years old. They settled in Chicago, where Knute first played
football on the sandlots of his Logan Square neighborhood. Knute was a
star in both football and track and field while in high school, but upon
graduation did not have enough money to enroll in college. He spent four
years as a mail dispatcher with the Chicago Post Office, saving the
funds necessary to continue his education. At the age of 22, Rockne
enrolled at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. In his
first year, he was a decided failure on the football field, so he
decided to focus solely on track and field, and set a school record in
the indoor pole vault. His success in track gave him the confidence to
give football another try, and by 1913 Rockne, playing tight end, was
the team’s captain. That year, the “Golden Domers,ö as they were known
(the nickname refers to the gilded statue of Mary atop the original Main
Building on campus), defeated a powerhouse Army team, 35-13. Rockne was
the star of the game, and that season made former Yale football coach
and NCAA co-founder Walter Camp’s college All-American team as a
third-stringer.
Rockne took over as Notre Dame’s coach after the 1917 season and
immediately set about turning Notre Dame into a contender, scheduling
games against established football programs each year, and developing
rivalries against local schools. From 1922 to1924, Notre Dame ran
roughshod over opponents with a Rockne-designed backfield comprised of
quarterback Harry Stuhldreher, halfbacks Jim Crowley and Don Miller and
fullback Elmer Layden, who were famously dubbed the “Four Horsemenö by
New York Herald-Tribune sportswriter Grantland Rice. Rockne also coached
the now-legendary George Gipp, who was versatile enough to run, pass,
punt, kick and play in the defensive secondary. Gipp died of strep
throat after the 1920 season at the age of 25. While on his death bed,
Gipp asked “Rockö to fire up the boys with a pep talk, and to win him a
game. Rockne waited eight years, until the team was in dire straits in a
game against Army before imploring his boys to “win one for the Gipper.ö
Knute Rockne died on March 31, 1931, when the airplane he was traveling
in crashed into a field in Kansas. In his 13 years as coach of Notre
Dame, he recorded 105 wins, 12 losses and 5 ties for a winning
percentage of .881, the highest in the history of college or
professional football.
73 de Scott KF5JRV
Pmail: KF5JRV@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA
email: KF5JRV@ICLOUD.COM
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