1903-1991
Star Running Back

College Football's Best.

Known as "Number 77" or "the Wheaton Iceman" or "Red" or, later, as sportswriter Grantland Rice called him, "The Galloping Ghost," Harold Grange was the decade's most famous college football player and, more than any other figure, the player who made professional football a popular spectator sport. Grange grew up in Wheaton, Illinois, where he became a star high-school halfback, averaging five touchdowns a game. One of the best coaches in the college ranks, Bob Zuppke, recruited him to play at the University of Illinois, where, from 1923 through 1925, he achieved his greatest gridiron successes. From 1925 through 1934 he played professional football but never attained the dominance he had had in college. When he retired from football, Grange had played the game for sixteen years, appearing in 237 games. He had carried the ball 4,013 times, averaging 8.1 yards per carry and...