Rockne of Notre Dame: The Making of a Football Legend

A solid sports biographer, Ray Robinson has previously parsed the lives of Lou Gehrig and Christy Mathewson. Here, he takes the stone statue that has come down to us of St. Knute and dusts it off until the cracks are visible. Despite that, Robinson's respect for Rockne and his accomplishments come through clearly both on the field and off. In one telling incident early in his coaching career, Rockne, still several years from embracing Catholicism, stands up staunchly to the anti-Catholic sentiments of an Indiana senator and the KKK. "The more Rockne was exposed to prejudice around him," writes Robinson, "the more he was attracted to the religiosity of his surroundings." Which, in the end, made Notre Dame football not just his job, but his mission. --Jeff Silverman

Product Description
In a mere twelve years, Rockne's "Fighting Irish" won 105 games, including five astonishing undefeated seasons. But Rockne was more than the sum of his victories--he was an icon who, more than anyone, made football an American obsession.
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. 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. In this balanced account, 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 solid portrait of one of football's most solid figures."--The New York Times Book Review

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   September 3, 1999
 4 out of 4 found this review helpful

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.