Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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50 APRIL 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED IRISH ECHOES JIM LEFEBVRE T he Nov. 11, 1922 meeting between Notre Dame (6-0) and Army (6-0- 1) was an emotional, all-out, physi- cal battle between two top teams. The crowd that ringed Cullum Hall Field at West Point, N.Y., surged toward the fe- vered action. In fact, it would be the final game at that location because the rivalry had outgrown West Point and would be headed to New York City the next sea- son. Every few plays, it seemed, one player or another would be laid out on the turf. In many cases, they would shake off their injury and continue. Some were not so lucky. Late in the first half of the scoreless tussle, Notre Dame's outstanding left guard Harvey Brown was writhing in pain. He was examined by a doctor and had to be carried off the field. His day leading the Irish line was finished. Head coach Knute Rockne turned to a little-used sophomore, John Weibel, to take over for the sturdy Brown. The young Weibel more than held his own the rest of the way, with the teams trad- ing parries but failing to cross the op- posing goal line. In the final minute, Army lined up for what would surely be a winning field goal. "The Irish charge pushes the Army line back into the path of the kick. Blocked!" read one description. Final score: 0-0. Rockne surely saw something of himself in Weibel. At just 5-foot-9, 165 pounds, he was nearly identical in size. A clever lad, he was a serious student of the sciences, with an eye toward medi- cal school. Football became a welcome release from the pressures of the class- room. Back in Erie, Pa., the player's father, Dr. Elmer Weibel, had been practicing medicine since 1899, and was the city's first radiologist and pathologist. The family lived in a fine home just west of downtown Erie. The following season, Harvey Brown served as captain of the Irish, and again Weibel was at the ready as his capable backup. With Brown graduated in 1924, Wiebel was the easy choice to take over his spot. The Irish backfield had been dubbed "The Four Horsemen," while the line picked up its own moniker: "The Seven Mules." After the 10-0-0 season that earned the team the national championship, the Scholastic wrote: "Weibel is re- garded as one of the greatest linemen ever developed at Notre Dame. His work on the offense was a mighty factor in paving the way for the fleet Irish backs. "He formed with Noble Kizer and Adam Walsh one of the most powerful center trios that has ever worn a Notre Dame uniform. His defensive playing bespeaks a stout heart, and his courage never faltered in the face of line plunges by mighty backs." In the fall of 1925, each one of the Horsemen and Mules had become college football coaches. Weibel's path took him to Nashville, where he entered medical school at Vanderbilt and was eagerly welcomed to the school's football coach- ing staff. (A decade earlier, Rockne had been accepted into medical school at St. Louis University, but wasn't allowed to continue coach- ing football, so instead took Notre Dame's offer which included coaching foot- ball and track, in addition to teaching prep-school chemistry.) We i b e l , i t wa s s a i d , "comes to the Commodores bearing the enthusiastic commendation of Knute Rockne. Weibel was highly praised for his ability as a player and for the great work in tutoring spring practice, in which Weibel was used as an assistant coach." As an assistant and scout for long- time head coach Dan McGugin, Wei- bel helped Vandy continue its string of highly successful seasons, going 6-3 in 1925 and 8-1 in 1926, with wins over Texas, Tennessee, Georgia and Georgia Tech. In 1927, when Irish teammate Elmer Layden became head coach at Duquesne in Pittsburgh, Weibel joined him as as- sistant. After the season, he returned to Vanderbilt to complete his degree in medicine. In early 1931, 26-year-old Weibel was nearing completion of his medical in- ternship at Pittsburgh's Mercy Hospital. Life was good. A local athletic banquet welcomed Kizer, now the head coach at Purdue. Weibel started at left guard and was part of "The Seven Mules" line in 1924, paving the way for the famous Irish backfield, "The Four Horsemen." PHOTO COURTESY THE KNUTE ROCKNE MEMORIAL SOCIETY Erie's John Weibel: National Champion, Rising Doctor, Tragic Figure CELEBRATING THE 1924 CHAMPIONS