The Four Horsemen

So I heard from someone today who complained: "Hey, when are you going to get a Notre Dame photo on there?" Well, I guess we'll go with the most famous one, just for the sake of overkill.

Something else I've heard from various people is the question of how I came up with the idea for the book. Actually, it stemmed from another idea that hit me in the middle of the night (I'm not going to reveal what it was because I still may do it at some point), and got me out of bed wondering how many different ways a college football team could claim to be No. 1. One thing led to another and after finishing "Where Football is King: A History of the SEC," I settled in for the 2006 season, but pitched the idea to Rick Rinehart at Taylor Trade.

On January 3, Rick called to tell me the book was a go. It was also the day that Nick Saban arrived Tuscaloosa. “So, is anything going on?” he asked. He then told me that they wanted the book “yesterday.” ... No pressure ... Oh, I almost forgot. Although none of them stood taller than six-foot, or weighed more than 162 pounds, Notre Dame’s Four Horsemen of quarterback Harry Stuhldreher, left halfback Jim Crowley, right halfback Don Miller, and fullback Elmer Layden, might have been the greatest backfield ever. In 1924, Notre Dame was 10-0 and outscored the opposition 285-57 en route to the national championship. Photo courtesy of the University of Notre Dame.