Grantland Rice

Date of Birth: November 1, 1880

Zodiac Sign: Scorpio

Date of Death: July 13, 1954

Biography

Grantland Rice was an eminent American sportswriter who played a pivotal role in shaping sports journalism in the early 20th century. Born on November 1, 1880, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Rice attended Vanderbilt University, where he became a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity and excelled in multiple sports, including baseball, football, and track. Rice’s career began at the Nashville Daily News, but he quickly moved on to more prominent newspapers, including the Atlanta Journal, New York Evening Mail, and New York Tribune. He gained widespread acclaim for his poetic and lyrical style of writing, which brought a new level of artistry and enthusiasm to sports reporting. One of Rice’s most famous contributions to the lexicon of American sports is the phrase “The Four Horsemen,” referring to the backfield of the 1924 Notre Dame football team. His vivid descriptions and memorable prose brought the excitement of sports to life for millions of readers. Over his career, Rice wrote thousands of columns and covered numerous major sporting events, including the Olympics, World Series, and college football championships.

5 Interesting Facts about Grantland Rice

1. Grantland Rice was known for his poetic style and often incorporated classical references and poetry into his sports columns.

2. He wrote the famous line, “For when the One Great Scorer comes to mark against your name, He writes – not that you won or lost – But how you played the Game.”

3. Rice was a pioneer in radio sports broadcasting and helped popularize the medium.

4. He was posthumously inducted into the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association Hall of Fame in 1962.

5. The Grantland Rice Trophy was established in his honor, awarded annually to the national college football champion as chosen by the Football Writers Association of America.

5 Most Interesting Quotes from Grantland Rice

1. “For when the One Great Scorer comes to mark against your name, He writes – not that you won or lost – But how you played the Game.”

2. “Eighteen holes of match play will teach you more about your foe than 19 years of dealing with him across a desk.”

3. “A wise man makes his own decisions, an ignorant man follows the public opinion.”

4. “When you’re 50 you start thinking about things you haven’t thought about for 25 years. And when you get to be my age, you start thinking about things you never thought about before.”

5. “It’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game.”

Highest Net Worth Achieved

Grantland Rice’s highest net worth is not well-documented, as he lived during an era when such figures were not commonly reported. However, he was highly successful and well-compensated for his work, making a comfortable living from his journalism career.