Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM OCT. 12, 2024 51 ity photo, the fellows' fame was cemented for all time as The Four Horsemen. The Fighting Irish plowed through every challenge the rest of the season, then met Stanford in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1, 1925. Elmer had an afternoon for the ages. In the second quarter, he put Notre Dame ahead for good with a 3-yard touchdown run, then ex- tended the lead to 13-3 with a 78-yard interception re- turn. All afternoon, his punting put Stanford in dif- ficult field position. He completed a num- ber of passes and gained yards rushing. But it was on defense that he etched a legacy never to be forgotten. In the fourth quarter, with Stanford again threatening, Layden intercepted a des- perate heave by Ernie Nevers at the Irish 37, and summoned the energy to return it 63 yards for the final score in a 27-10 Notre Dame victory. Layden was an easy choice as Player of the Game. Graduating from Notre Dame with a law degree in 1925, Layden followed Rockne's path into coach- ing, first with Colum- bia of Iowa (today's Lo- ras University) then on to Duquesne in Pittsburgh, where he led the Dukes to their greatest run of suc- cess. He was chosen over several former ND play- ers to become Notre Dame head coach in 1934. Over seven seasons, he led the Irish to a 47-13-3 record, with finishes at No. 8, No. 9, No. 5 and No. 13 in the first four years of the AP Top 20 (1936-39). Among the victories was the epic fourth-quarter comeback at Ohio State in 1935, when the Irish wiped out a 13-0 deficit to defeat the Buckeyes, 18-13. Moreover, Layden's years saw the football program represent the school with class and purpose. He stood for "the spirit of Notre Dame." Described this way: "You laugh at it for two years, but it grows on you, like ivy. They don't hand it to you when you enroll; they don't give a course in it, but everybody gets it." As athletic director, Layden oversaw a great expansion of the sports offered by the school. He worked closely with alumni across the nation to strengthen the program. As one writer noted, "He has, in a quiet way, taken up all of Rock's duties as an ambassador of good will and a morale builder …. Layden's suc- cess is due to a keen shrewdness, sound common sense, a fine character and more than any other one thing, a tre- mendous capacity for work." In 1941, Layden left Notre Dame to become the first full-time commis- sioner of the National Football League, a position he held until 1946, when he went into private business. Layden was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951, and died in 1973 at the age of 70, beloved by gen- erations of football fans nationwide. ✦ Please Help Us Honor JOE THEISMANN With the 2024 Knute Rockne Spirit of Sports LIVING LEGEND Award Friday, October 11 7 p.m. Champion Ballroom Embassy Suites at Notre Dame Reserve your spot TODAY! www.RockneSociety.org/shop/ Jim Lefebvre is an award-winning Notre Dame author and leads the Knute Rockne Memorial Society. He can be reached at: jim@ndfootballhistory.com Layden coached Notre Dame to a 47-13-3 record in 1934-40, then served as the first full- time commissioner of the NFL. PHOTO COURTESY KNUTE ROCKNE MEMORIAL SOCIETY