Illini Football - Red Grange
1923-25
Halfback
Number retired in 1925
Born: June 13, 1903 // Died: January 28, 1991
Harold E. “Red” Grange is one of football’s all-time greats, and arguably the game’s greatest all-time offensive player. He is a charter member of the Pro (1963) and College (1951) Football Halls of Fame. Grange’s most memorable performance came Oct. 18, 1924, when he scored four touchdowns in the first 12 minutes vs. Michigan in the Memorial Stadium dedication game. Later in the same game, he ran for a fifth touchdown and threw for a sixth. Nicknamed the “Wheaton Iceman” and “Galloping Ghost,” he left Illinois to play pro football with the Chicago Bears under former Fighting Illini George Halas. He was an All-American in each of his three seasons with Illinois and won the 1924 Silver Football Award as the Big Ten’s Most Valuable Player, the first recipient of the award. He was named to The Sporting News All-Time Team, the Big Ten Diamond Anniversary Team, the Walter Camp All-Century Team and the UI All-Century Team. In 2010, he was named the No. 1 Icon in Big Ten history by the Big Ten Network.
• “This man Red Grange of Illinois is three or four men and a horse rolled into one for football purposes. He is Jack Dempsey, Babe Ruth, Al Jolson, Paavo Nurmi and Man O’ War.”
— Damon Runyon, famed sportswriter
• “He ran with a rhythm I’ve never seen duplicated — the overall effect being one of orchestrated perfection. Generations to come will produce their great runners, but only Grange’s name will be immortal. They can argue all they want about the greatest football player who ever lived. I was satisfied I had him when I had Red Grange. I will never have another Red Grange, but neither will anyone else.”
— Bob Zuppke, former UI coach
• “I played football the only way I know how. If you have the football and 11 guys are after you, if you’re smart, you’ll run. It was no big deal.”
— Red Grange
• “They knew he was coming; they saw him start; he made no secret of his direction; he was in their midst, and he was gone!”
— excerpt from Chicago Tribune article after Illinois-Michigan game of 1924
• “A streak of fire, a breath of flame, eluding all who reach and clutch, A gray ghost thrown into the game That rival hands may never touch; A rubber bounding, blasting soul, whose destination is the goal.”
— Grantland Rice, famed sportswriter
Some of Grange’s Awards
1924 Chicago Tribune Silver Football Award as Big Ten Most Valuable Player (First year of the award)
1924 Frank A. Toomey Trophy by the Veteran Athletes of Philadelphia for national player of the year (considered the Heisman Trophy of its time)
1951 Inducted as charter member into College Football Hall of Fame
1963 Inducted as charter member into National Football League Hall of Fame
1969 Football Writers Association of America All-Time All-America team (unanimous)
1989 Walter Camp All-Century Team
1990 Illinois All-Century Team
2010 Named the No. 1 Big Ten Icon by the Big Ten Network
2017 Inducated as charter member of Illinois Athletics Hall of Fame
