Happy Birthday to Notre Dame Player and Coach Knute Rockne. Knute had his breakout session against Army in 1913. His squad strategically used the forward pass to move all over the field and defeat a powerhouse cadet team. In 1924, Knute coached one of the best backfields in all of football. So good that after the 1924 Army Notre Dame game, famed sports writer Grantland Rice deemed them “The Four Horsemen”. Lastly, at halftime of the 1928 Army Notre Dame game, Knute found his team getting pounded by Chris Cagle and the Army team. His team downtrodden, he motivated them with a moving speech about going out there and playing for a fallen ND football player George Gipp. “I guess we can’t expect to win them all. (Rockne pauses) I’m going to tell you guys something I’ve kept to myself for years. None of you ever knew George Gipp. It was long before your time. But you know what tradition he is at Notre Dame. And I tell you the last thing he said to me - “Rock, sometime when the team is up against it - and the breaks are beating the boys- tell them to go out there with all they got and win just one for the Gipper.”
Knute died on March 31, 1931 when a plane he was traveling in crashed outside Kansas City.
Post your great Knute Rockne items!
Pictures:
-1913 Snapshot of Knute running a catch into the endzone (notice West Point's famous Cullum Hall in the background)
-1913 program to the Army - Notre Dame Game (Congrats to whoever picked this up in the recent Goldin Auction)
- Ticket stub to the 1924 Army - Notre Dame "4 Horsemen" Game
- Ticket stub and program to the 1928 "Win one for the Gipper" Army - Notre Dame game.
