35 Facts About Red Grange

1.

Red Grange's signing with the Bears helped legitimize the National Football League .

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2.

In college, Red Grange was a three-time consensus All-America and led his team to a national championship in 1923.

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3.

Red Grange was the only consensus All-America running back in 1924 who was not a member of the Four Horsemen of Notre Dame.

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4.

In 2008, Red Grange was named the best college football player of all time by ESPN, and in 2011, he was named the Greatest Big Ten Icon by the Big Ten Network.

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5.

Shortly after his final college game in 1925, Red Grange joined the Bears and the NFL, embarking on a barnstorming tour to raise the league's attention across the country.

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6.

Red Grange remained with the team until he ended his playing career in 1934, from which he became a backfield coach for the Bears for three seasons.

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7.

Red Grange is a charter member of both the College and Pro Football Halls of Fame.

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8.

In four years at Wheaton High School, Grange earned 16 varsity letters in football, baseball, basketball, and track; he scored 75 touchdowns and 532 points for the football team.

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9.

Red Grange was the roommate of college basketball player and future college basketball coach John Mauer.

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10.

The following day, Pyle contacted Chicago Bears owners George Halas and Edward Sternaman to outline a professional contract for Red Grange, organizing a barnstorming tour that spanned 19 games and 67 days, including games in Florida.

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11.

Red Grange turned down a potential college coaching career owing to low pay.

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12.

On one play, Red Grange debuted the flea flicker, a trick play designed by Zuppke in which fullback Earl Britton received the snap from a fake field goal formation, which he threw to right end Chuck Kassel, who lateraled back to Red Grange and ran for the score.

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13.

Red Grange is Jack Dempsey, Babe Ruth, Al Jolson, Paavo Nurmi and Man o'War.

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14.

In Columbus, Red Grange restricted himself to his hotel room to avoid the media, including having a teammate impersonate him for a pre-game parade.

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15.

Red Grange scored at least one touchdown in every game he played but the Nebraska game.

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16.

Red Grange's decision was vilified by those in college football; at the time, professional football was viewed as a commercialized, weaker brand of its college counterpart.

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17.

Red Grange is the last player to play both college football and in the NFL in the same season.

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18.

Red Grange had been hit in the left arm during the Giants game, causing it to swell by the team's next game against the Providence Steam Roller.

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19.

Twelve minutes into the game, Grange attempted to block for halfback Johnny Mohardt, but suffered a torn ligament and a broken blood vessel in his arm, the latter of which resulted in artery hemorrhaging.

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20.

The evening before the game, Red Grange, driving a car accompanied by golfers Jim Barnes and Johnny Farrell and Olympic swimmer Helen Wainwright, was arrested for speeding at 65 miles per hour .

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21.

The line of progress was halting and certainly Red Grange was only one of the forces that contributed to the rise of pro football.

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22.

Four weeks after the Bears game, Red Grange returned against the Cardinals at quarterback to honor his contract.

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23.

Contract between Pyle and Grange expired in January 1928, but Grange decided not to renew due to his injury and withdrew his stake in the Yankees.

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24.

Red Grange missed the entire 1928 season before returning to the Bears for 1929.

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25.

Red Grange was a very modest person, who insisted that even the ordinary plumber or electrician knows more about his craft than he does.

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26.

Red Grange said he could not explain how he did what he did on the field of play, and that he just followed his instincts.

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27.

In 1926, he made his cinematic debut in the silent film One Minute to Play; Red Grange described the production process as "the worst drudgery I'd ever experienced".

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28.

An auto racing-themed film, Grange had requested to perform his own racing stunts but Cliff Bergere was hired to take his place.

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29.

The movie ultimately flopped at the box office, which Red Grange speculated was due to weaker promotion than with One Minute to Play.

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30.

Red Grange departed professional football in 1937 and earned a living in a variety of jobs including motivational speaker and sports announcer.

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31.

Red Grange married his wife Margaret, nicknamed Muggs, in 1941, and they were together until his death in 1991.

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32.

Red Grange's was a flight attendant, and they met on a plane.

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33.

Red Grange led the National Girls Baseball League as its president from 1947 to his resignation in 1949.

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34.

In 2011, Red Grange was announced as number one on the "Big Ten Icons" series presented by the Big Ten Network.

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35.

In 1931, Red Grange visited Abington Senior High School in Abington, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia.

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