Knute Rockne's playing days

[TanksAndSpartans]

One of the 35 Chicle cards I always kind of thought of as "out of place" was the Rockne, but I'm reading "Football's Rag Days" and it mentioned he played end for the Massillon Tigers from 1915 to 1917 (they even tied Canton for the title in 15). This ties Rockne back to the very early days of pro football which I think is pretty cool. The interview was with Jack Cusack who I had never heard of. Cusack had a pretty incredible memory as his chapter is filled with lots of specifics. He was a friend of Jim Thorpe and gives a nice account of Thorpe's time with the Canton Bulldogs.

One point that was made was that Rockne played under his own name. But I was wondering, since I think he took the ND job in 18, could he have continued to play any additional pro football? I assume ND wouldn't have liked it, so possibly under an assumed name?

[jefferyepayne]

Hi John,

It's possible Rockne played later under an assumed name later on. Many players did that in the early days of pro football ... particularly if they were either college players or college coaches.

Jack Cusak was more than Thorpe's friend. He was the Manager of the Canton Bulldogs and orchestrated the signing of Thorpe in 1915. He wrote a small book/pamphlet on his time at Canton that a lot of the more recent articles / books are based on. I have a copy and it documents his years at Canton.



jeff

[TanksAndSpartans]

Thanks Jeff - I was counting on you to tie my post to something hobby related. Is the image you posted the cover of Cusack's pamphlet? In theory, there may be a Massillon program listing Rockne as a player - have you ever seen such an item? It would be an interesting challenge to dig up if Rockne ever played while he was ND coach. I think it was Greasy Neale who came out and said - yeah I played as "Foster" or something like that.

[jefferyepayne]

No, his pamphlet cover is nondescript. The picture I posted is a composite piece from the 1916 season comprised of individual photos of team players. Here is one of my favorites



jeff

[TanksAndSpartans]

Very nice piece - coming up on 100th anniversary.

[TanksAndSpartans]

I may have to talk to Bob about a commission as I continue to advertise GridIron Greats This is my last post for the Winter 2015 issue. It includes an article by Jeff entitled "1916 Canton Bulldogs: A Push For A Championship - Part I". And I knew the visuals in the article looked familiar, so I had to dig up this thread.

Jeff, on the PSA set registry, in the write-up for my 35 Rockne, I mention that Rockne played on the 1915 Massillon Tigers Championship Team. Now when I look back at my original post, I mention a tie, so I guess the Tigers never won an outright title with Rockne, so maybe I was liberal in giving him credit for that one. What do you think? Naming a champion is always somewhat subjective in the pre-league days and without a playoff, I guess it didn't really get cleaned up until 32. Great article - looking forward to Part II.