Rockne, Knute

Knute Rockne

Born March 4, 1888

Voss, Norway

Died March 31, 1931

Bazaar, Kansas

College football player and coach

"[A football star must have] brains, courage, self-restraint, coordination, fire of nervous energy and an unselfish point of view. Of course, he must have a bit of speed and a bit of physique, but then these things are taken for granted."

As a legendary player and coach for the University of Notre Dame, Knute Rockne helped to change the game of football and increase its popularity. A player from 1911 to 1913, he helped lead Notre Dame to three straight undefeated seasons. The 1913 team revolutionized football by using the forward pass more frequently; rushing, or running, the football had been the standard and dominant way football was played since American football was introduced three decades earlier. As a coach from 1918 to 1930, Rockne led his team to five more undefeated seasons, and Notre Dame won nearly 90 percent of its games under his leadership.

Rockne's teams played before overflow crowds throughout the country, and many of the school's players became famous. Coach Rockne was the most famous of all—a colorful speaker and tireless promoter of football as well as an exceptional motivator and football strategist.

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