College Hall of Fame Football Player. A college football halfback, he was known as one of the “Four Horsemen of Notre Dame” on Coach Knute Rockne’s University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish champion footballs teams from 1922 to 1924. He teamed with quarterback Harry Stuhldreher, halfback Don Miller and fullback Elmer Layden under the tutelage of Coach Rockne to go 29-2-1 during that span, which was capped by a 1925 Rose Bowl win over Stanford University to give Notre Dame the College Football Championship. Their dominant performances on the field a collective unit inspired sportswriter Grantland Rice to give them their now legendary nickname. Following his graduation from Notre Dame in 1925, he played in three professional football games with the National Football League's Green Bay Packers and Providence Steamrollers. Turning his career to coaching, he was head football coach at Michigan State College, (1929 to 1933), Fordham University, (1933 to 1941) and North Carolina Pre-Flight School, in 1942. During World War II, he served as a Lieutenant Commander in the United States Navy in the Pacific. After the war, he became the first commissioner of a new All-American Football Conference in 1946. In 1953, he took the position as station manager and sports director of the television station WTVU, Pennsylvania. He later was named chairman of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission, serving from 1955 to 1963. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a player in 1966. He died at age 83 in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
College Hall of Fame Football Player. A college football halfback, he was known as one of the “Four Horsemen of Notre Dame” on Coach Knute Rockne’s University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish champion footballs teams from 1922 to 1924. He teamed with quarterback Harry Stuhldreher, halfback Don Miller and fullback Elmer Layden under the tutelage of Coach Rockne to go 29-2-1 during that span, which was capped by a 1925 Rose Bowl win over Stanford University to give Notre Dame the College Football Championship. Their dominant performances on the field a collective unit inspired sportswriter Grantland Rice to give them their now legendary nickname. Following his graduation from Notre Dame in 1925, he played in three professional football games with the National Football League's Green Bay Packers and Providence Steamrollers. Turning his career to coaching, he was head football coach at Michigan State College, (1929 to 1933), Fordham University, (1933 to 1941) and North Carolina Pre-Flight School, in 1942. During World War II, he served as a Lieutenant Commander in the United States Navy in the Pacific. After the war, he became the first commissioner of a new All-American Football Conference in 1946. In 1953, he took the position as station manager and sports director of the television station WTVU, Pennsylvania. He later was named chairman of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission, serving from 1955 to 1963. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a player in 1966. He died at age 83 in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Bio by: John "J-Cat" Griffith
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