ND-Navy Event in Baltimore
Recalls Career of 'Mule' Miller
Editor, Forever Irish
When Notre Dame meets Navy this weekend in Baltimore, a man who made his mark at both schools will be remembered.
Edgar "Rip" Miller came out of the football hotbed of Canton, Ohio, in 1921, after captaining his McKinley High School football team to an undefeated season in 1920. He was planning on attending Grove City College in Pennsylvania until an uncle talked Rip into challenging himself by attending the Unversity of Notre Dame.
Rip Miller had never been to South Bend, Ind. But one there, he made the most of his four years. By the time he was a senior in 1924, he had become the regular right tackle for the Fighting Irish. These, he was known as the one of the Seven Mules, blocking for the even more famous Four Horsemen.
Notre Dame rode the Horsemen and Mules to a perfect 10-0 record, a victory over Stanford in the 1925 Rose Bowl and virtually unanimous acclimation at the 1924 national champions. Rip Miller also won the student-athlete award for the graduating class of 1925.
| “Loyal
Sons” Visits In the week between Notre Dame home victories over Purdue (Sept. 27) and Stanford (Oct. 4), two towns in Ohio helped celebrate their connection to one of the greatest teams in college football history….the 1924 Fighting Irish of Four Horsemen fame. |
In 1926, Miller started what became a nearly half-century association with the United States Naval Academy, as a football coach and adminisrator. As head coach in 1933, he guided the Middies to their first victory over Notre Dame.
On Friday, November 14, Miller will be honored at a joint Notre Dame-Navy luncheon at Camden Yards in Baltimore. There, fans will be able to see the designs for the new Rip Miller Trophy, which will be presented to the winner of the ND-Navy game starting in 2009.
Rip Miller was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1966, retired from the Naval Academy in 1974, and died at age 90 on January 1, 1991 -- 66 years to the day after he and his teammates defeated Coach Pop Warner, star Ernie Nevers and Stanford in the Rose Bowl.
But there's another reason for celebrating November 14.
Believe it or not, it's the 102nd birthday of Rip Miller's widow, Mrs. Esther Miller of Annapolis. Mrs. Miller is the last living member of the generaton which produced Notre Dame's famous 1924 team. She will be honored at both the luncheon, and a dinner hosted by the Naval Academy on Friday evening.
Mrs. Miller was 16-year-old Esther Templin of Elkhart, Indiana, when Rip Miller, then a junior at Notre Dame, joined a teammate in a double date with Esther and her older sister Phyllis. Rip and Esther remained close, even as she went off to college in Boston, and they married and made it to Annapolis.
Phyllis Templn became Mrs. Noble Kizer when she married Miller's linemate, the left guard on the '24 Irish. The result is several Templins and Kizers in Indiana who are related to two of the Seven Mules.
Rip Miller and Noble Kizer, along with all nine of their fellow regulars on the 1924 ND champions, went directly from playing to coaching college football. Kizer guided Purdue for several years and compiled a sterling record. Both men are honored at the schools they coached with annual awards in their names.
The entire story of the 1924 Notre Dame team and its amazing season is told in “Loyal Sons: The Story of The Four Horsemen and Notre Dame Football’s 1924 Champions,” released last month by Great Day Press to an enthusiastic reception at the Notre Dame Bookstore. Since then, readers across the nation have enjoyed the story of Notre Dame’s first national championship team.
“Loyal Sons” is available from national retailers, online booksellers and direct from ACTA Sports at 1-800-397-2282, or www.actasports.com.
| Sept. 3 | S. FLORIDA | L, 20-23 |
| Sept. 10 | @Michigan | L, 31-35 |
| Sept. 17 | MICH. ST. | W, 31-13 |
| Sept. 24 | @Pittsburgh | W, 15-12 |
| Oct. 1 | @Purdue | W, 38-10 |
| Oct. 8 | AIR FORCE | W, 59-33 |
| Oct. 15 | -- | -- |
| Oct. 22 | USC | L, 17-31 |
| Oct. 29 | NAVY | W, 56-14 |
| Nov. 5 | @Wake Forest | W, 24-17 |
| Nov. 12 | Maryland (FedEx) | W, 45-21 |
| Nov. 19 | BOSTON C. | W, 16-14 |
| Nov. 26 | @Stanford | L, 14-28 |
| Dec. 29 | Florida St. (Champs Sports Bowl) | 5:30 |
(All times Eastern)
| Sept. 4 | Purdue | W, 23-12 |
| Sept. 11 | Michigan | L, 24-28 |
| Sept. 18 | @MSU | L, 31-34 |
| Sept. 25 | Stanford | L, 14-37 |
| Oct. 2 | @BC | W, 31-13 |
| Oct. 9 | Pittsburgh | W, 23-17 |
| Oct. 16 | W.Mich. | W, 44-20 |
| Oct. 23 | Navy (M'lands) |
L, 17-35 |
| Oct. 30 | Tulsa | L, 27-28 |
| Nov. 13 | Utah | W, 28-3 |
| Nov. 20 | Army (NYC) | W, 27-3 |
| Nov. 27 | at USC | W, 20-16 |
| Dec. 31 | Miami (Sun Bowl) | W, 33-17 |