Celebrating a Century of Legends: The Four Horsemen of Notre Dame

The 2024 college football season commemorates the 100th anniversary of one of the most legendary backfields in the sport's history—the iconic Four Horsemen of Notre Dame. This legendary group has left an indelible mark on college football, inspiring countless fans and players over the years. As we recognize this significant milestone, we celebrate not only their accomplishments on the field but also the enduring spirit of competition and camaraderie that embodies college football.

The Notre Dame backfield of halfbacks Jim Crowley and Don Miller, fullback Elmer Layden, and quarterback Harry Stuhldreher were all under 6'0" tall and weighed less than 165 lbs. But they took on Biblical proportions following a 13-7 victory over Army which took place at New York’s Polo Grounds 100 years ago this week.

Army was favored in the game but had no answer for the Notre Dame rushing attack. At halftime, Notre Dame student publicist George Strickler mentioned in the press box that the Irish reminded him of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse he had seen that week in a Rudolph Valentino movie.

Allegedly, New York Herald Tribune sports columnist Grantland Rice heard Strickler’s comment and kept it in mind. After the game, Rice fleshed out the analogy to write arguably the greatest lead paragraph ever written for a sports column:

Outlined against a blue, gray October sky, the Four Horsemen rode again. In dramatic lore they are known as famine, pestilence, destruction, and death. These are only aliases. Their real names are Stuhldreher, Miller, Crowley, and Layden. They formed the crest of the South Bend cyclone before which another fighting Army team was swept over the precipice at the Polo Grounds this afternoon as 55,000 spectators peered down upon the bewildering panorama spread out upon the green plain below.

Grantland Rice used this typewriter to become the eminent sportswriter in the nation while writing for leading newspapers, specifically the New York Tribune, where he began a regular feature titled “Sportlights,” which included his Four Horsemen opening.  

Upon returning to South Bend, George Strickler’s father let him borrow four work horses and he convinced the four players to pose on horseback. Three of the four players had no experience with horses, and you can tell in this photo that they are a little nervous.

Jittery or not, the photo of the Four Horsemen has become iconic. The photo shoot only lasted two minutes, but the century-old picture is still synonymous with Notre Dame. 100 years later people know the photo, but perhaps not the players. They are from left to right: Don Miller, Elmer Layden, Jim Crowley, and Harry Stuhldreher.

This football was signed by all four members of the Four Horsemen and is on temporary display at the College Football Hall of Fame, a tangible connection to one of the greatest moments in college football, and journalistic, history.

Join us in honoring these legends of the game. To dive deeper into their story and see the legacy they left behind, watch our featured video on YouTube: Watch Here.