 Remember, a hallmark card when you will carry enough to send the very best. Your true story from the life of Newt Rockney of Notre Dame, narrated by Frank Leahy, transcribed on the hallmark hall of fame. And here's our distinguished host, Mr. Lionel Barrymore. And welcome to the hallmark hall of fame. Tonight, a true story from the life of one of America's greatest and most beloved football coaches. Late Newt Rockney of Notre Dame. His courage and his winning spirit continued through his very last game. And to tell us the story behind that last game is another truly great coach of Notre Dame, Frank Leahy. And now here is Frank Goss. One of the nicest things about Christmas is the opportunity it gives us to greet all our friends. And what nicer way than to choose hallmark Christmas cards. For hallmark Christmas cards are designed to carry the full goodwill in your heart. And to speak your wish for Christmas joy eloquently and sincerely. While the hallmark and crown on the back of the card adds, too, that you will carry enough to send the very best. Lionel Barrymore appears by arrangement with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, producers of the color picture Bo Brummo, starring Stuart Granger, Elizabeth Taylor, and Peter Ustinoff. And now with Frank Leahy as our narrator, Mr. Barrymore brings you the Hallmark Hall of Fame. 1888 in the village of Voss, Norway. He was brought to America by his parents five years later. After the usual preliminary education, he entered Notre Dame University where in 1914 he received his Bachelor of Science degree. Following year, he became assistant football coach and taught chemistry. Our story tonight concerns Rockney, the head coach, and the Notre Dame squad of 1938. And here to know Richard is a member of the illustrious team, Frank Leahy. Newt Rockney used to say, the football is not only something to kick, but something to think about. Each fall when the football candidates would gather around him, he would tell them this, something to think about. You play this game with your mind as well as your body. I well remember they used to call us the lucky Irish. Rocks undefeated teams of 1929 and 30. Maybe we were lucky. Perhaps we did just happen to get in the way of a stray fumble or two or intercept passes. But mostly when the breaks came our way, we earned it. We had been taught that the team that was trying the hardest invariably got more than its share of good breaks. It was Rockney's way. It was the way he taught us. Case in point, football game, University of Southern California versus the University of Notre Dame. To be played in the Los Angeles Coliseum December 6, 1930. The team left from Chicago. I remember with us on that trip were Johnny O'Brien, Al Culver, Tom Cassis, Tom Yar, Burt Metzger, Captain Tom Connelly, Moon Mullins, Frank Curridio, Marty Braille, Marcie Schwartz, and Bucky O'Connor. I was lucky enough to be a member of that fine squad. And like always, a wonderful crowd have gathered at the station for a send-off. Take my arm, Rock. I don't have to lean on you, Doc. I'm okay. I'm okay. You are. Just take it easy on that leg, will you? He's trained after hard. Your compartment is ready, Doc. Oh, thanks, Father McMurray. Here. I'll give you a hand. Who around here is going to believe me? I'm all right. See what I've had to put up with, Father? You tell him I can't. You're a sick man, Doc. There's no discrepancy. Listen, both of you. I want to tell you something. This is a Notre Dame team departing for a championship game. A departure like that's got to be done right. Cheers and spirit and bands playing. Not limping coaches. Not illnesses. Especially with ridiculous names like Lobitis. Not been here, Rock. Sit down right here. Here now. Just blanket on your leg and I want it to stay there. Well, I suppose somebody had to say that. Exactly what you said, Rock. About an hour ago at the hotel, you remember? Yeah, yeah. Well, then what are you so bitter about? Now that the train's finally moving, I've got a funny feeling. California. I don't know. What are you talking about? I've always had a strange feeling about myself and California, Father. I can't help it. I can't explain it. What do you mean, strange feeling? I wish I could tell you. It probably has to do with the size of the Southern California line. No, it's... Come in. Yes, Margie? Hello, Mr. Rockney, Father. Hi, Margie. What can I do for you? Nothing, Mr. Rockney. Fellas just wanted to know how you're feeling. You're comfortable? You know. Sure. Tell them, okay, Margie. I'm fine. Just fine. They're all seasoned. And they've been scoring with it all season. We'll watch it this Saturday, Mr. Rockney. What about their Z-formation power play? We won't overshift. Okay, Gradyo. Tell him, Connor, I want to see him when you leave. Yes, sir. He's right outside the door. How does he feel? Well... Well, he's a good boy, Coach. He's going to be okay. Sure he will. Hey, Bucky? Yeah? Rock wants to see you. Mr. Rockney? Close the door and come in, son. And sit down. I asked Gradyo how you feel. And he said you were going to be okay. I'll be okay. That means you don't feel very good right now. Nervous. What have you been doing? Starting my assignment at right half, Mr. Rockney. Listen, Bucky. Yes, sir? Joseph Odie and Moon Mullins were a great help to the team. Oh, yes, sir. And neither one are able to play. Yes, sir. That means a simple thing, son. You are not going to play half this Saturday. You're going to play fullback. And you're going to be great. Oh, I'll try. And that's not good enough. I don't understand it. You will. The word I used was great. That means once in a lifetime, son. Saturday you'll understand. Tell Marty Brill I want to have a word with him. Yes, sir. Hi, Mr. Rockney. Just fine, Marty. Close the door and talk to you. Last Saturday at Evans... Just like all the other trips we took. If only for the time Rock would take to stop and talk with us. There wasn't a member of the team from Assistant Manager on up to the Assistant Coaches who wasn't hopeful that our great coach would sit down and chat for a few moments. Well, on Thursday we reached Tucson and according to schedule we were to hold practice in the local stadium. In the locker room just before practice Rock had a few words for us. Last Saturday we beat Northwestern by two touchdowns. But the team you're going to meet this Saturday was last game by ten touchdowns. Now the sports writers are calling us the underdogs. That's the way I want it to be. That the Trojans think all they have to do is walk from one end of the field to the other and then O'Connor. Yes, Mr. Rockney. Take off your jersey and give it to Hanley. Hanley. You wear Bucky's jersey out there and the sports writers will think you're O'Connor. All right? Everybody, everybody. Come on, come on. Let's go, let's go. Mustn't keep the newspaper boys waiting. Got to give them something to talk about. Let's go. It wasn't an empty seat in the Tucson stadium that day. It was probably one of the worst scrimmages in the history of football. Rock sat on the sideline with a hand, P.A. Mike. Like he always did. Get going in there, man. Let's play. Okay, line up in there. It's a trick you're pulling to switch in the jerseys of O'Connor with Hanley. I don't know why. Me, the way this team looks now, nothing will help. But they've never looked worse. Just don't let us worry, O'Rock. O'Rock. But then they can get beat, O'Rock. Five, five, touch done. One moment. We'll bring you the second act of the Hallmark Hall of Fame. I've noticed lately that many people who have that special personal touch and everything are using more and more Hallmark note papers. And it's easy to see why. For in the wide range of these decorated note papers, there are designs that are perfect for every personality and every occasion. There are Hallmark note papers with soft floral paintings. It's ideal for thank you notes and invitations from the woman who runs a gracious home. Then there are Hallmark note papers designed with gay whimsy, dancing gilded clock saying, apologetically, how time flies. Just the thing for the tardy note writer who is always forgiven. And there are handsome Hallmark note papers illustrated by artists Hulda and Grandma Moses. No wonder is it that when people want their short messages to have added charm and interest, they use decorated Hallmark note papers. You'll find they make such thoughtful and inexpensive Christmas gifts too. So the next time you are in a fine store that features Hallmark cards, ask to see some Hallmark note papers. They too are distinguished by the Hallmark and Crown on the back. The symbol you choose when you carry enough to send the very best. And now with Frank Leahy as our narrator, Lionel Barrymore brings you the second act of our true story from the life of Newt Rocknay. Newt Rocknay. Not only was he a warm and personable gentleman, but his brand of football had styled. He invented the famous Notre Dame shift. He developed a forward pass. And who could ever forget that remarkable backfield known as the Four Horsemen? Consider Rocknay's record. He coached 13 years. During that time, his teams won 105 games, tied five, and lost only 12. And one of his dearest friends and greatest admirers was Frank Leahy. In the fall of 1929, Rock was told that he was a very sick man. His life was in danger. It was now December of 1930. It was right here in the sun and desert of Arizona that he had his worst attack. The inflammation of his leg was perhaps the most severe in the sad history of his illness. We were called to a private meeting. Rock wanted to see us. He wanted to talk to us. Rock was truly upset. Our practice session hadn't pleased him. Everybody down. Everybody down. Boys, something I want to say to you. A couple of notes. Wait a minute, Rock. Yeah, Doc. There are a couple of things I want to tell the boys to start. Okay. Look, I'm going to tell them anyway, Rock. If not here in the ballroom, I'll corner them one by one somewhere else they have to know. Doc's got something in his mind, boys. Then we'll get to the business of winning a football game. You all know about Rock. You know how sick he is. We call it plebitis. Let me tell you about that disease, the way it's hit Rock. There's a blood clot in his leg. It's the thing that acted up in him earlier tonight. It's why he's sitting down now. Because nobody but Rock will ever know the pain. It would cause him just to stand up. You finished, Doc? No. Something else the boys need to know about that clot in your leg. Any excitement, any intense excitement can tear it from its mornings. If that happens, it can go to the heart or to the head. And it can kill. You finished now, Doc? Yeah. That's all of it. You got something you want to say, Father Moncage? No. I've already told you what I had to say. Well, I'm glad because I won't have any more of this. I've had pain in my life and I'm going to have pain again. I've lost ball games and I've won ball games. And I'm going to keep on doing that till the day I die. This meeting was called because we've got a game to win. This meeting was called to let you know something. A game to play. And I'm going to be there to help. Nothing the doctor says is going to keep me from it. He's a doctor. I'm a football coach. He's got his work to do. I've got mine. Mine's the Saturday game with SC. And it's yours. And I'm going to be with you. That's all. Wait a minute, Doc. Let me help you. Leave me alone. And a man stricken with terrible pain walked the length of that room without help. Through the assemble team and away from us. Early the next morning, we were on the train to Los Angeles. At Union Station, we bought up the local papers, turned to the sports section, and read the predictions of defeat for Notre Dame. By six touchdowns, one of them said, by a score of 48 to nothing, another wrote, Southern Cal's game was power football. Rock's game without such great stars as Savodian Mullins was cripple football, they thought. That Friday evening in December, we were in another hotel room. Rock got us together for a final skull session. And a flanker is sent out to the left and down like this. At least that's the way our scouts reported it. That's it. Now, go get a good night's sleep. I said that's all, you can go now. If you're waiting for me to say something else, I'm not going, no big speech. You all know what you have to do. You'll do it better with a good night's sleep. So everybody up, everybody out. Anything on your minds, boys? Yes, sir, there is. OK, Marcy, what is it? Frank. Marty. Something the team wants to say to you, Mr. Rockney. They picked Marcy here and Frank and me to say it for him. We, uh... Say what? Come on, Marty, say what? Back in Tucson, when you had that... What? Marty's trying to tell you. Back in Tucson, when you had that attack, it... hit us all pretty much the same way. It made us think about something. Go on. The thing we thought about was, what do we do now? Mr. Rockney's sick the way he is. We don't stand a chance. What do we do? We... we were selfish. Everybody on the team. We were only thinking to ourselves. What are you talking about, Marcy? Well, we got panicking. We wanted you with us, so you could beat SC for us. Bring us in undefeated. The champs of 1930. Now, what about now? We want you to go home. And we want you to take it easy, like the doc said you ought to do. And you'd play it without me. That's right. Lose maybe or win maybe. What's important is, you shouldn't be on a football field tomorrow. You should be at home, like the doc said. Is that all? Yes, sir. Now I'll tell you. I'm going to be on that field tomorrow. Everybody up. Everybody up. God bless you. Rock did something he often did. He went alone to the playing field. The huge empty stadium known as the Coliseum. A place now of deep shadows and moonlight. And he slowly walked the turf where his boys would play tomorrow. He would stand for a moment in silence and then walk again. Beautiful night, isn't it? Huh? Father, I'll care. It's so warm for December. It's the way it is in California. Yes. Couldn't sleep up. No. Or by yourself. I thought I'd like to walk. It was pleasant. Somehow I found myself here. Me too. Rock. Huh? You walked here? Yeah, why? The homes. The gardens. You ever see so many flowers? So much green grass. And it's December. Late winter. Something. Yes, really something. Rock. I got some cuttings from a friend of yours. And they take them back to the hotel to party. See what luck she'll have with them this year. Last year. I wanted to ask about something else. What? Something you said on the train when they left Chicago. Said a lot of things. I talk a lot, I'm a real talker. About a strange feeling. Yourself. Versus California. Oh. You said you couldn't explain it. I've been wondering. I can explain it now. Bad luck plays for me. Well, you said it yourself so often. To all your teams. You make luck, you said. Good or bad. It's within our power to make the breaks. Or lose them. I didn't mean about the game tomorrow or football. Then what? I meant about dying. It's late, Father. Maybe we ought to... Yes, sir. How do you feel about O'Connor tomorrow? When I looked in on him, he was sleeping like a baby. He'll be great tomorrow. No other words. Great. We just wait and see, Father. Opening kickoff, Notre Dame scored. Bucky O'Connor had fulfilled Roth's judgment. He went 80 yards on play 39. A reverse play from Marcie Schwartz. Soon after, Notre Dame scored again on a pass play from Schwartz to Caridio. The final score read Notre Dame 27. Southern Cal, nothing. It was the last college game Rock ever coached. On March 31st of 1931, our beloved coach was killed in an airplane crash. He was en route to California. These were the words of the Reverend Charles O'Donnell, President of Notre Dame, and his eulogy at Sacred Heart Church on the Notre Dame campus. He said this of Rock. There has occurred a tragic event which accounts for our presence here today. Newt Rockney is dead. And who was he? Ask the President of the United States who sent a personal message of tribute to his memory. Ask the King of Norway who sends a special delegation. Ask the several state legislatures that passed resolutions of sympathy and condolence. Ask the University Senate's, the civic bodies and societies without number. Ask the bishops, the clergy, the religious orders that have sent assurances of sympathy and prayers. Ask the thousands of newspaper men whose labor of love and his memory has stirred a reading public of 125 million Americans. Ask men and women from every walk of life. Ask the children, the boys of America. Ask any and all of these. Who was this great man whose death has struck the nation with dismay and everywhere bowed heads in grief? This was Newt Rockney. Mr. Barrymore and Mr. Leahy will return in just a moment. Wouldn't it be wonderful if you could give your friends a painting by Norman Rockwell for Christmas or a nostalgic New England scene painted by Grandma Moses? Actually, you can send your friends some of the finest works of these and other famous artists when you choose Christmas cards from the Hallmark Hall of Fame collection. This distinguished collection offers you original paintings made for Hallmark Christmas cards and various artists. You can choose boxes of cards created by Norman Rockwell, Grandma Moses, or Winston Churchill by Hulda with her gentle style, leading humorous Steinberg and many others. Two, there are cards made memorable by Christmas messages from Dr. Norman Vincent Peale or the loved poetry of Edgar Guest. One impressive group of cards has large, full-color photographs from Amal and the Night Visitors, and television at Christmas by the makers of Hallmark Cards. You'll be surprised to discover that cards in this Hallmark Hall of Fame collection cost as little as a dollar for a box of 12. Choose them now to be sent and received with pride. And the hallmark and crown on the back shows, as always, that you'll carry enough to send the very best. And now, here is Lionel Barrymore. Frankly, our thanks for helping us tell this beautiful story of Newt Rockney. This incident certainly demonstrates his greatness. Yes, Mr. Barrymore. Newt Rockney's inspiration and leadership affected the lives of all with whom he came in contact. And it seems to me the stories you present each week on the Hallmark Hall of Fame make all our lives richer. Well, that's what we're trying to do, Frank. That's really what we're trying to do. And next week, we'll tell our own true story about the great explorer, Captain James Cook. And after that, a surprising true story about William Harvey who used a king as his guinea pig. And on November the 14th, Miss Helen Hayes will star as Dr. Rebecca Dawson. That certainly sounds like an exciting series, Mr. Barrymore. I'll be listening. Good night. Good night, Frank. Good night. And until next week then, this is Lionel Barrymore saying good night. We're selected to give you expert and friendly service. Remember, a Hallmark card when you carry enough to send the very best. Our producer-directors, William Prude, are transcribed script by Morton Fine and David Friedkin. Features in our cast were Ted Bacorsia, Polly Bear, Herb Butterfield, Tom Brown, Heath Vincent, Sam Edwards, and William Oiler. Next week, the Hallmark Hall of Fame on television will present an exciting true story of Horace Greeley. This is Frank Goss saying good night to you until next week at the same time. When you'll hear a true story from the life of Captain James Cook on the Hallmark Hall of Fame. It was Plato, the great Greek philosopher, scholar, and writer who wrote these words over 2400 years ago. The punishment that the wise suffer who refuse to take part in the government is to live under the government of unwise men. Their warning is still applicable today. Remember it. And be sure to exercise your right to vote on November 2nd. This is the CBS Radio Network.