Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Red "The Galloping Ghost" Grange

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Born in Forksville, PA on 6/13/1903 he was a halfback for the University of Illinois between the years of 1923-1925. Wearing the number 77 Harold "Red" stood 5 feet 11 inches and weighed 175 lbs. Though not big in stature, his talents led him to be picked for the all century team. He earned the nick name the Galloping Ghost because no one could catch him, he was very fast and elusive. He was football's greatest open field runner up to his time. One of his most notable performances include his debut against Nebraska scoring three times, from 50, 35, and 12 yards out. October 18,1924 The Ghost galloped to his way to 402 yards on 21 carries against Michigan. In the first 12 minutes he scored four touchdowns on runs of 95, 67, 56, and 44 yards respectively. That same year on a cold November day, Grange ran for 300 yards and passed for 177 against Chicago. Another notable date in his playing days, October 31,1925. On this day he amassed 363 yards on 36 carries and recorded two 65 yard TD runs against Penn. Only playing 20 collegiate games he put up astounding numbers, 31 touchdowns and 3,362 yards. Over his entire career dating back to college and his time in the pros he had 4,103 rushing attempts and gained 33,920 yards, that's 8.4 yards per carry. His umber 77 was retired in 1925, the only other number to be retired in Illinois history was Dick Butkus's 50. He was inducted into the college hall of fame in 1951. Red passed on January 28, 1991 he was 87 years old.

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(Red without his helmet)

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(Red scampering off to a long run)

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