Notre Dame Football: Remembering Knute Rockne
By Paul Walsh
Today we remember a Notre Dame legend.
88 years ago today, Knute Rockne took his final flight as the coach of the Notre Dame football team. Rockne was headed to Los Angeles to participate in the production of a film titled The Spirit of Notre Dame. During the flight, one of the wings of the plane deteriorated, and the plane crashed in Kansas. The fatal crash took the life of Rockne and seven others on board. A memorial to Rockne and the seven other victims now stands at the site of the historic crash.
At his funeral, Rockne’s home nation of Norway was present. King Haakon VII of Norway was sure to send a representative in order to personally express his condolences and highlight the notion that, while the death of Rockne was a grave loss to America, it was also a grave loss to Rockne’s birth country.
It goes without saying that the name Knute Rockne is synonymous with Notre Dame football. Rockne had an illustrious career for the Irish both as a player and as a coach. But he too played a pivotal role in the game of college football as a whole. His fresh schemes and experimental tactics changed the landscape of college football forever. Through his involvement with the University of Notre Dame and with college football in general, Rockne proved to be one of the most recognizable personalities in the nation at the time of his death.
Today we remember the legendary player and coach who set the standard of excellence for the Notre Dame football program.