a young Ronald Reagan played George Gipp in the 1940s movie “Knute Rockne, All American. Pat O’Brien stared as Rockne in the biographical film. Many referred to Reagan as the Gipper.

Rockne was witty; his stories were of football happenings; he was serious, in demanding fair play and real Americanism on the part of all athletes, and he spoke in the terms of both a coach and an ...