TheFour Horsemen of Notre Dame was a group ofAmerican football players at theUniversity of Notre Dame under coachKnute Rockne. They were thebackfield ofNotre Dame's 1924 football team. The players who made up this group wereHarry Stuhldreher,Don Miller,Jim Crowley, andElmer Layden.[1]
In 1924, a nickname coined by sportswriterGrantland Rice for theNew York Herald Tribune and the actions of a student publicity aide transformed the Notre Dame backfield of Stuhldreher, Crowley, Miller, and Layden into one of the most noted groups of collegiate athletes in football history, the Four Horsemen of Notre Dame.[2]
Quarterback Harry Stuhldreher, lefthalfback Jim Crowley, right halfback Don Miller, andfullback Elmer Layden had run successfully through Irish opponents' defenses since coach Knute Rockne devised the lineup in 1922 during their sophomore season. During the three-year tenure of the Four Horsemen, Notre Dame lost only two games, one each in 1922 and 1923, both toNebraska inLincoln before packed houses.
Grantland Rice gave the foursome its nickname after Notre Dame's 13–7 upset victory over a strongArmy team on October 18, 1924.[3] Rice had penned what sports journalist Murray Sperber called "the most famous footballlede of all-time":[4][5]
Outlined against a blue-gray October sky the Four Horsemen rode again. In dramatic lore they are known as famine, pestilence, destruction and death. These are only aliases. Their real names are: Stuhldreher, Miller, Crowley and Layden. They formed the crest of the South Bend cyclone before which another fighting Army team was swept over the precipice at the Polo Grounds this afternoon as 55,000 spectators peered down upon the bewildering panorama spread out upon the green plain below.[3]
— Grantland Rice, October 18, 1924[3]
George Strickler, then Rockne's student publicity aide and later sports editor of theChicago Tribune, made sure the name stuck. He had pitched the idea out loud at the halftime of the Army game in the press box as a tie in to the 1921Rudolph Valentino movieThe Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.[6] After the team arrived back in South Bend, he posed the four players, dressed in their uniforms, on the backs of four horses from a livery stable in town. The wire services picked up the now-famous photo, and the legendary status of the Four Horsemen was assured.[6]
"At the time, I didn't realize the impact it would have," Crowley said later. "But the thing just mushroomed. After the splurge in the press, the sports fans of the nation got interested in us along with other sportswriters. Our record helped, too. If we'd lost a couple. I don't think we would have been remembered."
After that win over Army, Notre Dame's third straight victory of the young season, the Irish were rarely threatened the rest of the year. A 27–10 win overStanford in the1925 Rose Bowl gave Rockne and Notre Dame the national championship and a 10–0 record.
Although none of the four stood taller than six feet or weighed more than 162 pounds, they played 30 games as a unit and lost only to one team, Nebraska, twice. They played at a time when there were no separate offensive and defensive teams. All players had to play both sides. Once a player left the field, he could not come back into the game.
Stuhldreher, a 5'7", 151-pounder fromMassillon, Ohio, was a self-assured leader who could throw accurately, return punts, and block. He emerged as the starting signal caller four games into his sophomore season in 1922.
Crowley, who came to Notre Dame in 1921 fromGreen Bay, Wisconsin, stood 5'11" and weighed 162 pounds. Known as "Sleepy Jim" for his drowsy-eyed appearance, Crowley outmaneuvered many defenders with his shifty ball carrying.
Miller, a native ofDefiance, Ohio, followed his three brothers to Notre Dame. At 5'11", 160 pounds, he proved to be the team's breakaway threat. According to Rockne, Miller was the greatest open-field runner he ever coached.
Layden, the fastest of the quartet, became the Irish defensive star with his timely interceptions and effective punting. The 6-foot, 162-pounder fromDavenport, Iowa, boasted excellent speed in the 40-yard dash.
After graduation, the lives of the Four Horsemen took similar paths. All began coaching careers, with three of the four occupying top positions. As players, the four reunited for one game for theHartford Blues in 1925 (Stuldreher was already playing for the team that year); the Blues, however, lost 13–6 to theCleveland Bulldogs. Two of the four, Layden and Stuhldreher, were the namesakes of the professionalBrooklyn Horsemen team for whom they played in 1926.
Layden coached at his alma mater for seven years and compiled a 47–13–3 record. He also served asathletic director at Notre Dame and later as commissioner of theNational Football League. After a business career inChicago, Layden died in 1973 at the age of 70.
Crowley started as an assistant coach at theUniversity of Georgia. He quickly moved to head coaching positions atMichigan State University andFordham University, where his famed line, the "Seven Blocks of Granite," includedVince Lombardi. His Fordham teams played in theCotton Bowl Classic andSugar Bowl. His overall record was 78–21–10. Crowley also served as commissioner of theAll-America Football Conference. He later entered business inScranton, Pennsylvania. The last surviving Horseman, Crowley died in 1986 at the age of 83.
Stuhldreher, who died in 1965 at the age of 63, was the head football coach for 11 years atVillanova University, then became athletic director and football coach at theUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison. He later worked forU.S. Steel.
Miller left coaching after four years each atGeorgia Tech andThe Ohio State University. He began practicing law inCleveland. He was appointedU.S. District Attorney for Northern Ohio by PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt. Miller died in 1979 at the age of 77.[7]
All four players were elected to theCollege Football Hall of Fame — Layden in 1951, Stuhldreher in 1958, Crowley in 1966, and Miller in 1970. In 1998, theUnited States Postal Service honored the Four Horsemen with a stamp as part of 15 commemorative postage stamps saluting "The Roaring Twenties", which was part of theirCelebrate the Century stamp sheet series.[8]
After Rice nicknamed the so-called Horsemen, the Notre Dame line was identified as the "Seven Mules" to emphasize their crucial but less glamorous function.[9] Two members of the line are also in the College Football Hall of Fame.Adam Walsh, fromHollywood, California, was the startingcenter and team captain. In later years, he coached atSanta Clara University andBowdoin College and for theCleveland/Los Angeles Rams. Walsh died in 1985.Edgar Miller was atackle fromCanton, Ohio. He later coached at theUnited States Naval Academy and died in 1991. Thus, a total of six members of the 1924 Notre Dame team have been elected to the College Football Hall of Fame.[10] Yet another of the "Mules" wasJoe Bach who went on to a coaching career that included two stints as head coach of thePittsburgh Pirates/Steelers. Another of the Mules wasGeorge Vergara, who later played for theGreen Bay Packers until his career ended with a neck injury. Later he became the Mayor ofNew Rochelle, New York.