NOTE: Enjoy this excerpt from The American Daily Reader, by CatholicVote president Brian Burch and Emily Stimpson Chapman. To order the complete volume, visit the CatholicVote store today!
On March 9, 1988, President Ronald Reagan spoke before a crowd at the University of Notre Dame. He’d come to unveil a U.S. postal stamp commemorating the man the College Football Hall of Fame called “American football’s most renowned coach”: Knute Rockne.
Born in Norway and raised in Chicago, Rockne found deserved fame in his 13 years as head football coach at Notre Dame. During that time, he led the “Fighting Irish” to 105 victories, five ties, three national championships, and five undefeated seasons.
More impressive than his coaching record was his character. Revered by his players, their opponents, his fellow coaches, and countless fans, Rockne was known for his kind heart, generous spirit, and unfailing work ethic. He also was known as a man of deep faith, a faith he found through the help of his players.
As Rockne recalled in his autobiography, one fall morning before an away game, he couldn’t sleep, so he left his hotel room and went to the lobby. As he sat there, he saw several players come down the hotel stairs just before dawn and leave. On a whim, he followed them…straight to the nearest Catholic church.
“They didn’t realize it,” he wrote, “but these youngsters were making a powerful impression on me. When I saw them walking up to the Communion rail to receive and realized the hours
of sleep they had sacrificed, I understood what a powerful ally their religion was to them in their work on the football field.”
In 1923, Rockne, who had been raised Lutheran, entered the Catholic Church. He died eight years later, at the age of 43, in a plane crash. When they found his body, Rockne had a rosary in his hands and a prayer book by his side. Speaking on that March night in 1988, Reagan concluded his remarks by noting that through his lived example of faith, “Knute Rockne did more spiritual good than a thousand preachers. His career was a sermon in right living.”
