Fantasy Football? When Halas Played Rockne (Great Lakes vs. Notre Dame 1918)

With electronic, board, and online fantasy games extremely popular for both football and baseball fans, one can imagine the wild matchups that might be possible through these outlets. How would Nolan Ryan pitch to Babe Ruth? Could Ty Cobb fool Bob Gibson on the base path? And would Jim Thorpe have a chance against Dick Butkus, or vice-versa?

Listeners to this program, appropriately called “When Football Was Football,” on the Sports History Network may have figured out by now that I have no life. I’m perfectly content to research the heroics and exploits of key professional football players from a century ago with the wonderful opportunity to share their stories via this platform.

But, I sometimes imagine what it must have been like to suit up in the days long before facemasks or humane rules were in place…to see the heroes of old and experience their tales of glory and gridiron stardom. And then, it’s just so easy to drift into potential “what ifs…”

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Could Driscoll Outsmart Lambeau?

What if we could gather all of the gridiron stars from over 100 years ago and witness their enthusiasm and capabilities on the field? We could gather the best that football could offer at the time. Maybe have George Gipp square off against Hugh Blacklock.

Or maybe see if Paddy Driscoll could outsmart Curly Lambeau with both of them on the playing field at the same time. And then–could Jimmy Conzelman surpass Hunk Anderson? Finally, how would Knute Rockne fare against George Halas on the coaching sideline?

All were wonderful names and all were established stars during their playing years. Unfortunately, these individual battles could never have occurred. Or could they? Instead of arranging these notable players in a video game decades later, what if they actually did meet in a game?

As hard as it is to believe, all of the aforementioned players did take the field at one time in a largely forgotten game that the sands of time have largely drifted over. But due to highly unusual circumstances, the game in question did take place and it was big news around the country!

Let’s set the time and place for this football version of “Field of Dreams”…

It’s 1918 and two very dangerous adversaries threw the football season into a frenzy. Of course, the first was World War I which was nearing its conclusion, but many, many collegiate players were serving in the military instead of playing for their schools. In addition, the country was battling a second incredible foe with a dangerous flu epidemic that was sweeping the country. Sound familiar?

War and Epidemic Threaten Football

So, with these two highly unusual opponents combining in an attempt to crush the football season in 1918, there were still some outlets for football followers across the country, even if schedules were greatly reduced or possibly eliminated.

On one hand, the military gobbled up a multitude of football players into the service, thus leaving colleges searching for able replacements wherever possible. Many schools simply relinquished the thought of fielding a football squad altogether or simply opted to play just a handful of games.

The flu epidemic was also looming and very often games were canceled to help battle the contagious disease. If games were played, they were often without a crowd of supporters since people were not allowed to gather in large numbers.

So how did our “ancient” fantasy game take place? What brought Halas, Lambeau, Driscoll, Gipp, and Rockne together on the same field?

The date was November 9, 1918, and the site was Cartier Field at the University of Notre Dame. Knute Rockne was in his first season as the head coach at Notre Dame after succeeding the very successful Jesse Harper. The latter completed his tenure in South Bend with an overall 57-17-7 record, including a sparkling 34-5-1 mark at Notre Dame.

Little did anyone know at the time that Rockne would actually surpass Harper’s spectacular coaching accomplishments by eventually fashioning a handsome 105-12-5 record while he was the Irish coach. That success rate of .881 remains the best career mark of any coach in the history of college football!

Gipp Still Holds Notre Dame Records

Hopes were high for the Irish in 1918, especially with a pair of now-legendary runners in the same backfield in George Gipp and Curly Lambeau. Gipp would pass away quite suddenly in December of 1920 just a couple of weeks after completing an All-American season for Notre Dame.

Gipp topped his squad in both rushing and passing each of his three years on campus and still holds the Irish record for best rushing average for a season with an incredible 8.1 average gain per carry! Of course, the battle cry of “Win one for the Gipper” remains as one of the most revered in college football history.

Lambeau lasted just one season at Notre Dame but returned home to Green Bay and in 1919, was the co-founder of a new local club called the Acme Packers. Lambeau played and coached on the team through the 1949 season as the team evolved into the Green Bay Packers. Lambeau ensured his legendary status by being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963.

Another talented player for the Irish was Heartley “Hunk” Anderson, a future collegiate and professional coach who was eventually inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Great Lakes Pursued Best Athletes

But in 1918, Rockne, Gipp, Anderson, and Lambeau were all together in South Bend and awaiting the arrival of their next opponent: the powerful Great Lakes Naval Training Center. As young men across the country enlisted for the war effort in 1918, thousands made their way through the Great Lakes facility in Glenview, IL, just north of Chicago.

Great Lakes quickly earned a stellar reputation as not only an excellent training facility but also as the home for an impressive array of athletic teams. In particular, Great Lakes actively pursued major league baseball players and well-known college football athletes, to serve their military time as representatives of the Great Lakes’ teams.

And this is where the names like Halas, Driscoll, and Conzelman emerged, particularly on the football field although Halas and Driscoll also played for the Great Lakes baseball and basketball teams.

It was the hope of the base administrators that the successful performances of the Great Lakes’ teams would not only attract positive publicity for the facility but also encourage recruitment efforts for the U.S. Navy. Remember, there was no such thing as the National Football League at the time, but the immense collection of football talent on the Great Lakes squad certainly would have qualified as a front runner in any grid league at the time.

Because of the flu restrictions in 1918, Notre Dame participated in only one game throughout September and October, a 26-6 romp over Case Western on September 28. The team was idle before finally receiving the green light to battle Wabash on November 2, resulting in an easy 67-7 win for the Irish (2-0).

Great Lakes Team is Strongest Imaginable

Meanwhile, Great Lakes was scheduling any and all competition, mostly on short notice, compiling a 3-0-1 record against a combination of college and service teams. Its most recent game took place on October 26, ending in a 0-0 tie with Northwestern.

Naturally, the reputation of Great Lakes spread over to Indiana where just two days before the game, the diminishing presence of the flu was still a concern. But the Star Press newspaper reported that “The consent of Dr. Powers, army surgeon at the university, has been secured to stage the game.”

Quickly, the Great Lakes team grabbed a train out of Chicago on the Northwestern line at 3:30 pm on Friday afternoon and arrived later that evening, staying at the Hotel Oliver in South Bend. The South Bend News-Times reported: “The Great Lakes lineup on paper is one of the strongest imaginable, having more than four All-Americans and All-Western men in the crowd of eligible.”

Gipp Puts Great Lakes In Danger

Meanwhile, the South Bend Tribune stated that Rockne was especially wary of the running antics of Paddy Driscoll, the former Northwestern All-American: “To thwart the doughty Paddy, Rockne is trying to develop every man he has into a formidable tackler. Driscoll must not be allowed under any circumstances to get away. That is why in yesterday’s practice, every man worked on only one thing, and that was the tackling dummy!”

As it turned out, the eagerly awaited game was equal parts exciting and boring. In the pre-NFL days, passing was still not a huge part of the offensive schemes, but the running of both Driscoll and Gipp impressed the onlookers in the 7-7 tie. Notre Dame scored in the first quarter according to the Chicago Tribune: “End runs by Gipp and line plunges by Lambeau brought the Great Lakes line in danger, and Mohn, by a quarterback run, made the touchdown. Gipp kicked goal.”

Driscoll Played Like a Whole Team!

That 7-0 lead lasted until the third quarter when Driscoll took over, said the Indianapolis Star: “Driscoll played like a whole team. He made most of the gains that brought the Notre Dame line in danger, and then by a 35-yard run, crossed the line for a touchdown. Driscoll then kicked goal.”

That’s the way it ended, but the Indianapolis Star also had plenty of praise for the host team: “The wonder of the game to most people was the way the Notre Dame line, ten pounds to the man lighter and several years younger, were able to hold against the plunges of the powerful sailors. Gipp, Lambeau, and Mohn are names that will be held in honor at the Gold and Blue school for many a day!”

In Rockne’s first season, Notre Dame ended up with a 3-1-2 record in 1918 but then bounced back with an undefeated campaign in 1919. Great Lakes won its last four contests in 1918 to finish 7-0-2, including a 17-0 victory over Mare Island in the 1919 Rose Bowl. George Halas was the MVP for Great Lakes in that contest in an unusual pairing of service teams in the Rose Bowl where top collegiate clubs have resided ever since.

And so our fantasy game of 1918 came and went, along with a slew of future Hall of Famers on both the collegiate and professional levels: George Halas, Knute Rockne, Paddy Driscoll, George Gipp, Hunk Anderson, and Curly Lambeau…Since Great Lakes was based in the northern suburbs of Chicago, its presence qualifies it for coverage on this episode and we hope you enjoyed this quick trip back to “When Football Was Football!”

Please join us next time when we’ll share the wonderful story of an extremely gifted halfback who still holds NFL offensive records he set almost 80 years ago!

Author and Host - Joe Ziemba

Joe Ziemba is the host of this show, and he is an author of early football history in the city of Chicago. Here, you can learn more about Joe and When Football Was Football, including all of the episodes of the podcast.