Football Coaches Regularly Use

FOOTBALL COACHES REGULARLY USE halftime pep talks to inspire their team. In 1928, Notre Dame’s Knute Rockne delivered perhaps the most famous words in the history of sports.

A 4–2 Fighting Irish squad faced the unbeaten Army Cadets at New York’s Yankee Stadium. After a scoreless first half, Rockne elected to share an anecdote about former Notre Dame running back George Gipp.

The Michigan native arrived in South Bend in 1916 to play baseball, but Rockne convinced him to try football. In four years, he rushed for 2,341 yards—a school record that stood for 50 years.

Toward the end of Gipp’s senior season, he contracted a streptococcus infection that led to pneumonia. His condition worsened, and Rockne stayed by the player’s bedside as Gipp’s life drained away. Gipp voiced a last request the day before he died. He asked Rockne to tell his Notre Dame players to “win just one for the Gipper,” at a time when things were going wrong. Rockne inspired his players as he told them this was the time.

The fired-up Irish rushed to the field for the second half. Army took a 6–0 lead, but Notre Dame tied the contest on Jack Chevigny’s one-yard plunge. As the fourth quarter drew to a close, halfback Butch Niemiec hit reserve receiver Johnny O’Brien for a 32-yard touchdown pass, putting the Fighting Irish in front 12–6. On its final possession, Army drove to Notre Dame’s 1-yard line, but time expired before the Cadets could run a final play. Rockne’s squad had pulled off the stunning upset.

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POINT The coach had filed away George Gipp’s story to use at the appropriate time. Playing an undefeated team and needing a win seemed right. Would Notre Dame have beaten Army without Knute Rockne’s speech? We’ll never know. But the truth is, words possess power. Inspiring words change outcomes. Good coaches like Rockne know that.

The writer of Proverbs knew that too. The right comment at the correct moment can prove as precious as gold. And each time we open our mouth, our speech can inspire with results as valuable as silver.

GOAL! Name three people whose words inspire you: