Grantland Rice

Grantland Rice (1880–1954) was an American sportswriter and poet whose newspaper columns helped shape modern sports journalism. He popularized memorable nicknames and covered college football, baseball, golf, and other sports.

Knute Rockne: Knute Rockne was Notre Dame’s head football coach from 1918 to 1930 and one of college football’s early national celebrities. Rice’s coverage helped turn Rockne and Notre Dame into national sports stories.
Sports journalism: Sports journalism reports and interprets athletic events, institutions, and people through news and commentary. Rice’s influential columns helped establish sportswriting as a major newspaper genre.
College football: College football is the form of gridiron football played by teams representing colleges and universities, especially in the United States. Rice’s coverage helped bring college teams and rivalries to a national newspaper audience.
The Four Horsemen: “The Four Horsemen” is Grantland Rice’s 1924 newspaper passage comparing Notre Dame’s backfield to apocalyptic riders. The passage is the clearest example of Rice turning a game report into lasting sports mythology.
Four Horsemen of Notre Dame: The Four Horsemen were Notre Dame’s celebrated 1924 backfield: Harry Stuhldreher, Jim Crowley, Don Miller, and Elmer Layden. Rice coined their enduring nickname in a newspaper account of Notre Dame football.
The New York Herald Tribune: The New York Herald Tribune was a major American newspaper published from 1841 to 1966. Rice’s nationally syndicated sports columns appeared in the Herald Tribune.
Baseball: Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport in which teams alternate between batting and fielding. Rice wrote about baseball as well as football throughout his newspaper career.
Alabama Crimson Tide: The Alabama Crimson Tide is the University of Alabama’s intercollegiate athletic program, best known for its football team. Rice’s 1926 description of Alabama’s Rose Bowl victory helped popularize “Crimson Tide” as the team’s name.
Walter Camp: Walter Camp was a Yale football player and coach who helped establish the rules and institutions of American football. Camp’s football writing and rule-making preceded the sports culture Rice later covered.
Sports Illustrated: Sports Illustrated is an American sports magazine launched in 1954. Rice’s name became attached to the magazine’s annual college football award.

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Sports mediaRelated: His celebrated prose helped establish the sportswriter as a prominent public voice.