Gipp The Great

I must take issue with the writer Ray Robinson’s categorizing George Gipp as an “overrated” college football star (“Overrated & Underrated,” October 2004). No less than his coach, the great Knute Rockne, wrote that Gipp “was the greatest football player Notre Dame ever produced.” Not only was Gipp a superstar on offense, he was equally adept on defense in an era when players went both ways. Rockne said Gipp “had the timing of a tiger in pouncing on its prey. He never missed.” Rockne also wrote that “not a single forward pass was ever completed in territory defended by George Gipp.” Gipp’s rushing record at Notre Dame wasn’t broken for nearly 60 years. Some of his other records are still standing. Not bad for an overrated player.

There has been too much maligning of Gipp over the years by writers who were rehashing old misinformation. Fortunately, authors like Patrick Chelland ( One for the Gipper ) and Emil Klosinski ( Gipp at Notre Dame ) have attempted to set the record straight.