Grange, "Red" (Harold E.)
Football
b. June 13, 1903, Forksville, PA
d. Jan. 28, 1991
After winning sixteen letters in four sports in high school, Grange entered the University of Illinois in 1922. He was one of more than three hundred players who turned out for freshman football, and he decided he'd never make the team. But his fraternity brothers pressured him into going back to the practice field. He not only made the team, he scored two touchdowns in a scrimmage against the varsity, one of them on a 60-yard punt return.
Wearing the Number 77 that he soon made famous, Grange started as a sophomore and scored three touchdowns, on runs of 12, 35, and 60 yards, in his first game. Against the University of Chicago, he returned an interception 43 yards to set up the winning touchdown--which he scored. He had a 92-yard interception return against Northwestern. After leading the Western Conference (now the Big Ten) in scoring, he was named an All-American halfback.
Early in the 1924 season, Illinois faced a University of Michigan team that had been unbeaten in twenty consecutive games. Michigan athletic director and former coach "Hurry-Up" Yost assured the press, "Mr. Grange will be carefully watched every time he takes the ball. There will be eleven clean, hard Michigan tacklers headed for him."
Grange responded by scoring touchdowns the first four times he touched the ball, in twelve minutes of the first quarter. He began with a 95-yard kickoff return, then had runs of 67, 56, and 45 yards from scrimmage. He was taken out until the third quarter, when he scored on a 12-yard run. Then he threw a 23-yard touchdown pass as Illinois won, 39-14.
After scoring three touchdowns in 21-21 tie with the University of Chicago, Grange was injured during the game with Minnesota and Illinois lost. He missed the final game of the season, a victory over Ohio State, but was still an All-American for the second year in a row.
Already known as the "Galloping Ghost" and the "Illinois Flash," Grange captained the Illini in 1925. After the young team lost three of its first four games, he was moved to quarterback and Illinois won the final four games. Grange's greatest performance came on a muddy field against Pennsylvania before 65,000 spectators. He gained 363 yards on 36 carries, scoring three touchdowns, in a 24-2 victory.
An All-American for the third time, Grange left college immediately after his final game to tour with the Chicago Bears. He actually had a personal services contract for more than $100,000 with promoter Charles C. "Cash and Carry" Pyle, who in turn sold his services to the Bears.
The tour was not totally successful. Grange missed several games with injury and played only briefly in several others. However, he attracted 65,000 fans in New York, by far the largest crowd to have seen a professional game at that time. That record was broken in January, when 75,000 turned out in Los Angeles to watch Grange and the Bears.
Pyle also got Grange a role in a football movie, One Minute to Play, and Grange later did a vaudeville tour and two other movies. One of Pyle's ambitions was to get a New York franchise in the NFL, but he was turned down, so he started the American Football League, with Grange playing for the New York Yankees. The AFL barely made it through the 1926 season, and the Yankees were then admitted into the NFL. Grange's knee was badly injured in a game against the Bears, and he was never again the same player.
After sitting out the 1928 season, he joined the Bears in 1929 and played with them through 1934. No longer an outstanding runner, he was still a very good player, and a genuine defensive star. He was named to the first official All-Pro team chosen, in 1931, and was an All-Pro again in 1932.
When the Bears beat the Portsmouth Spartans for the 1932 NFL championship, Grange scored the only touchdown on a pass from Bronko Nagurski. And he saved the 1933 championship game against the New York Giants. With the Bears leading 23-21 in the closing seconds, a Giant halfback broke loose and had a teammate trailing him, waiting for a lateral. Grange alertly pinioned the runner's arms to keep him from lateraling the ball and then threw him to the ground.
After missing the 1934 championship game with an injury, Grange played in a post-season exhibition game on January 27, 1935. He broke into the open on a 50-yard run, but was caught from behind by a lineman. He decided it was time to retire.