Notre Dame football: Top 5 running backs in school history
It’s not fair that George Gipp is remembered for his death, and not his life. However, it’s impossible to ignore the legacy that he, particularly for his death, left at Notre Dame.
The Gipper was Notre Dame’s first All-American, as selected by Walter Camp, and while he played multiple positions he was primarily a half back. Today, Gipp is 10th all-time in Notre Dame football history for rushing yards, with 2,341.
He had been first in career rushing yards, until the 1970s. Keeping in mind that Gipp played in an era of about 9 games a season, compared to up to 14 games a season in the modern game, it’s incredibly impressive that he’s lasted that long on the top 10 rushers list.
Over the course of his career, Gipp was responsible for 83 touchdowns during his time at Notre Dame and is said to have kicked a field goal as long as 62 yards. The NFL record is 64 yards. He was a standout and would have won the Heisman Trophy if only the award had existed. The award started in 1935. George Gipp is, rather obviously, in the College Football Hall of Fame.
Gipp died of pneumonia in December of 1920, at the age of 25. He likely contracted it from giving punting lessons late in November. Another, commonly told story is that he was locked out of his dorm. He had returned after curfew and was forced to sleep outside in the cold. There’s no evidence to say that actually happened.
Famously, while on his death bed, Gipp told Knute Rockne, “I’ve got to go, Rock. It’s all right. I’m not afraid. Some time, Rock, when the team is up against it, when things are wrong and the breaks are beating the boys, ask them to go in there with all they’ve got and win just one for the Gipper. I don’t know where I’ll be then, Rock. But I’ll know about it, and I’ll be happy.”
Rockne would call on The Gipper against Army, in 1928. It was 0-0 at the half, and the Irish would go on to win 12-6.
Ronald Reagan immortalized George Gipp in the 1940 movie, Knute Rockne-All American. It’s said that The Gipper haunts Notre Dame’s campus, but is friendly to students.