The Red Grange Story: An Autobiography, as told to Ira Morton [Paperback]

Red Grange (Author), Ira Morton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 1993

Red Grange stood with Babe Ruth and Jack Dempsey in the 1920s as the most heralded figures in America's "Golden Age of Sport." Grantland Rice immortalized Grange in rhyme as "The Galloping Ghost" and named him and Jim Thorpe the halfbacks on his all-time college team. In 1991, when Sports Illustrated published its first special issue celebrating "yesterday's heroes, " Red Grange, "An Original Superstar, " was featured on the cover. A three-time All-American at the University of Illinois in 1923-25, Grange scored 31 touchdowns and ran for 3,637 yards in three eight-game seasons. In 1924 he gave what many consider to be the greatest single-game performance in the history of college football. Playing before 67,000 fans on the dedication day of Illinois' new Memorial Stadium, Grange scored four touchdowns in the first twelve minutes of play, ran for a fifth touchdown in the third quarter, and passed for a sixth touchdown in the final period. When Grange joined the Chicago Bears on Thanksgiving Day 1925, five days after his last college game, it marked the turning point for professional football. His enormous popularity and drawing power became the force that was to transform the NFL into a major sports attraction. This is the first paperback edition of Grange's autobiography, originally published in 1953 and praised by Robert Cromie of the Chicago Tribune as "the literary equivalent of a perfectly planned and executed touchdown march." Illustrated with more than a dozen photographs, it includes a new introduction and afterword by Ira Morton.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: University of Illinois Press; First Thus edition (August 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0252063295
• ISBN-13: 978-0252063299
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,278,797 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Red Grange Story a Winner, January 30, 2004

By 

M. Matloff (Phoenix, Arizona) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Red Grange Story: An Autobiography, as told to Ira Morton (Paperback)

An inspirational book. The Grange-Morton combination has scored the literary equivalent of a perfectly planned and executed touchdown march.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Football's first star, February 3, 2003

By 

R. Rowan (Scranton, PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Red Grange Story: An Autobiography, as told to Ira Morton (Paperback)

The 1920s were the "Golden Age" of sport. Bobby Jones, Jack Dempsey, Bill Tilden, Babe Ruth and Red Grange were immortalized in the newspaper accounts of Grantland Rice, Damon Runyon, Heywood Broun and others. In the early 1950s, Grange told his story to Ira Morton, a Chicago sportswriter and fellow Illini.

Red Grange was a huge star and gate attraction, a primary reason for the success of the infant NFL, organized in 1922. His gridiron exploits - first at the University of Illinois, later with the Chicago Bears - earned him the nickname "Galloping Ghost". Despite fame, Grange remained humble. Through high school and college, he worked summers hauling ice to pay for his education and condition his body for football. His adventures in Hollywood at the dawn of talking pictures remind us some things don't change.

A knee injury early in his pro career slowed Grange, but he adjusted to his limitations - he played quarterback more often - and earned his spot as a charter inductee of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Upon retirement from playing in 1934, he took on several business ventures and became a broadcaster, paving the way for a host of ex-athletes in many sports. Grange is a fine example of sport as character builder. He was a great runner, but fully acknowledged the essential contributions of his coaches and teammates.

2003 marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of his autobiography and the centennial of his birth (June 13). Read this book as a way to celebrate both.