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Okla-homey
3/4/2008, 08:45 AM
March 4, 1888: Knute Rockne born

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120 years ago on this day in 1888, Knute Rockne is born in Voss, Norway. Knute is properly pronounced "kah-noot" ("noot" is the anglicized nickname.) 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 is considered to be the father of the forward pass in football.

Yes, the Domers put an end to the longest unbeaten string in college footbal history (47 straight by Bud Wilkinson's Sooners), but Rockne had been dead for years by then, so, take a moment to revel in the glory that was Knute Rockne.

Rockne won three undisputed national championships (and three more which were disputed) with the Fighting Irish, and helped to transform Notre Dame from an unknown program into the then most popular college football team in the United States. During his thirteen year tenure as head coach between 1913 and 1930, his team enjoyed 5 undefeated seasons without a tie.

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Rockne at football practice

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.

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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.

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The film about Rockne included Ronaldus Maximus in the role of the ill-fated George Gipp. That role was probably worth several million votes over the years.

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," 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 Horsemen" by New York Herald-Tribune sportswriter Grantland Rice.

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Don Miller, Elmer Hayden, Jim Crowley, Harry Stuhldreher
(Jan 1924 photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

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 "Rock" to fire up the boys with a pep talk, and to win him a game.

It was on his hospital bed that he is purported to have delivered the famous, but possibly fictional, "win just one for the Gipper" line. The full quotation from which the line is derived is:


I've got to go, Rock. It's all right. I'm not afraid. Some time, Rock, when the team is up against it, when things are wrong and the breaks are beating the boys, ask them to go in there with all they've got and win just one for the Gipper. I don't know where I'll be then, Rock. But I'll know about it, and I'll be happy.

Eight years later, Rockne used the story of Gipp, along with this deathbed line that he attributed to Gipp, to rally his team during halftime to an underdog victory over the undefeated Army team of 1928 at Yankee Stadium.

Knute Rockne died on March 31, 1931, when the airplane he was traveling in crashed into a field in Kansas.

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Wreck of the Fokker Tri-Motor in which the 43 year-old Rockne died

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Marker at the spot

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The Matfield Green travel plaza on the Kansas Turnpike, near Bazaar, KS contains a memorial to him.

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Rockne is buring in Highland Cemetery in South Bend, Indiana.

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.

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Viking Kitten
3/4/2008, 09:09 AM
Happy birthday, my Norwegian homeboy.

Miko
3/4/2008, 09:33 AM
I still get teary eyed thinking of Dr. Rumack telling Ted to Win one for the Zipper

Viking Kitten
3/4/2008, 10:57 AM
I just want to tell you both good luck. We're all counting on you.

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Dio
3/4/2008, 11:09 AM
Happy birthday, my Norwegian homeboy.

Same here. I actually had a great-uncle Knute.

Rudy still sucks, though