George Gipp
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| Notre Dame Fighting Irish No. 66 | |
|---|---|
| Position | Halfback |
| Class | 1920 |
| Career history | |
| College | Notre Dame (1917–1920) |
| Personal information | |
| Date of birth | February 18, 1895 |
| Place of birth | Laurium, Michigan |
| Date of death | December 14, 1920 (aged 25) |
| Place of death | South Bend, Indiana |
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
| Weight | 180 lb (82 kg) |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| College Football Hall of Fame (1951) | |
George Gipp (February 18, 1895 – December 14, 1920), nicknamed "The Gipper", was a college football player who played for the University of Notre Dame. Gipp was selected as Notre Dame's first Walter Camp All-American. Gipp played several positions, particularly halfback, quarterback, and punter.
Gipp died at the age of 25 of a throat infection, days after leading Notre Dame to a win over Northwestern in his senior season, and is the subject of Knute Rockne's famous "Win just one for the Gipper" speech. In the 1940 film Knute Rockne, All American he was portrayed by Ronald Reagan.
Born in Laurium, Michigan, he entered Notre Dame intending to play baseball for the Fighting Irish, but was recruited by Knute Rockne for the football team, despite having no experience in organized football.
During his Notre Dame career, Gipp led the Irish in rushing and passing each of his last three seasons (1918, 1919 and 1920). His career mark of 2,341 rushing yards lasted more than 50 years until Jerome Heavens broke it in 1978. Gipp was also an ideal handler of the forward pass, and threw for 1,789 yards. He scored 21 career touchdowns, averaged 38 yards a punt, and gathered five interceptions as well as 14 yards per punt return and 22 yards per kick return in four seasons of play for the Fighting Irish. Gipp is still Notre Dame's all-time leader in average yards per rush for a season (8.1), career average yards per play of total offense (9.37), and career average yards per game of total offense (128.4).
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