Rockne of Notre Dame: The Making of a Football Legend

By Ray Robinson

Book Overview

To say that Knute Rockne was the best coach who ever lived is to understate his importance to football. True, in a mere twelve years, his "Fighting Irish" won 105 games, including five astonishing undefeated seasons. But Rockne was more than the sum of his victories--he was an icon, a legend on a par with Babe Ruth, a sports giant who, more than anyone, made football an American obsession.
In Rockne of Notre Dame, Ray Robinson delivers a memorable portrait of one of the great American sports figures. The book gives us colorful descriptions of such Rockne teams as the undefeated 1924 eleven led by the illustrious Four Horsemen, and the 1930 squad, Rockne's last and greatest. Here too are vivid accounts of some of the great games in Notre Dame history, including epic battles with arch rivals Army, Nebraska, Carnegie Tech, and USC. But the heart of the book is Rockne himself. A renowned motivator whose "Win one for the Gipper" is the most famous locker-room speech ever, Rockne was also football's most brilliant innovator, a pioneer of the forward pass, a master of the psychological ploy, and an early advocate of conditioning. Though Robinson doesn't pull punches, Rockne emerges as an exemplary and complex figure, a fierce competitor who was generous in victory and defeat, an inspiring father figure to his players, and a man so revered nationwide that when he died in a plane crash in 1931, at the height of his career, he was mourned by the entire country.
A feast for all Notre Dame grads and for subway alumni everywhere, this engaging biography is the finest portrait we have of the man who changed football in America.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195105494
• ISBN13: 9780195105490
• Release Date: September 1999
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 1.36 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Brings the legend to life...

My ole man went to Notre Dame... so I've been steeped in the rich legacy of Fightin' Irish Football. This book is by far one of the better books on Notre Dame football in its heyday under Knute Rockne who forged that legacy. The team that brought us the forward pass left a rich history worth examing. This book captures the essence of Rockne, his leadership style, his character and his ambition to excel.

An Olympian god comes closer to human.

While acknowleging the legends surrounding one of the greatest coaches in any sport anywhere, but not attempting to pass them off as fact, Ray Robinson does not stoke the inspirational fires of the mythological demigod Knute Rockne. Still and all, we see Rockne as he developed from a boy growing up in Chicago to the young man at Notre Dame eventually becoming the coach who, in turn, became larger than life.Mostly, the reader is invited to visit a time when Knute Rockne was arguably the brightest star among the numerous sports heroes of the '20's. While Irish, Catholics and especially Irish-Catholics were almost universally reviled and the power of the Klan was at its height, the immigrant from Voss, Norway lead Notre Dame to the forefront of college football's national stage.There are occasional glimpses of Rockne off the football field and I, personally, would have liked to have gotten to know more about Rockne the man. However, this is, first and foremost, a story about Knute's lifelong relationship with football.This book is designed for college football fans, especially fans of Notre Dame. Notre Dame detractors may also get something out of the book, if for no other reason than it makes it a little easier to understand why Notre Dame football is what it is today.

Stirring football stories & insights into the life & times

The most enjoyable sports book I've read since, well, "Stirring Football Stories", this book gives the reader not only such favorite moments in the history of the game as the winning forward pass (Dorais to Rockne, against Army), the Gipper, the Four Horsemen, and back-to-back undefeated seasons, but insights into the life and times of Notre Dame's legendary coach. Rockne championed & embodied the immigrant struggle for a place in the sun - the "fighting Irish" being a moniker bestowed on a polyglot group of newcomers to the American dream. On the gridiron it was possible to prove yourself - and show your talents - on an equal footing with older, more established schools and traditions. This conscious inclusion of the larger story gives this book an important place on the shelf, alongside Rockne's own unfinished autobiography, "We Remember Rockne", "Knute Rockne, All American", and other memoirs and studies.