(WikiCommons)
In a broad field of swaying prairie grass in a region of Kansas known as the Flinthills, on the cold morning of March 31, 1931, TWA flight 599 crashed to earth. All eight aboard, including the legendary Knute Rockne who was just 43, were killed instantly.
The tragedy shocked the world. Afterall, at that time it has been said that Rockne’s popularity was equal to or surpassed that of Babe Ruth. Rockne was at the peak of a career that had turned him into a national figure, not just in the sports world but in American culture as a whole.
Born in Norway in 1888, he had grown up a hard scrabble kid on the near northwest side of Chicago. Rockne worked for the post office for 4 years after high school and saved enough money to attend Notre Dame. The rest is well known history. At ND, he was an outstanding student and athlete excelling at both football and track. After graduation in 1913 he spent four years as an assistant head football coach under Jess Harper and then went on to the position of head coach of Notre Dame football for 13 seasons. In that job his teams averaged less than 1 loss per year. His 881% winning percentage is the best in college football history, 105 wins 12 losses 5 ties.
Rockne won national championships in 1924, 1929 and 1930. He was an innovator who was known to all as a modest, intelligent and honest man. Unparalleled as a coaching strategist, Rockne was a brilliant promoter and a shrewd businessman. He was instrumental in developing the actual shape, size and weight of the football that is still used today, He also possessed exceptional motivational skills and he was the first to utter the words, “win one for the Gipper”.
Then on that fateful March day, at the age of just 43, he was lost in a tragic plane crash. The world mourned. Rockne’s funeral in the Notre Dame Basilica was broadcast on a national radio network and 100,000 attended in person. He was posthumously Knighted by the King of Norway.
Gone too early but far from forgotten, Rockne’s legacy lives on as his methods and strategic innovations influence coaching practices to this day.
There are a lot of awe-inspiring individuals who are responsible for building Notre Dame into the internationally renowned institution it is today. Knute Rockne is certainly on the “Mount Rushmore” of a very few individuals at the pinnacle of the impact they have had on the growth of the University of Notre Dame into the world class institution is is today.