Lars Rockne and his family| including his four year old son Knute| emigrate to Chicago in 1892 from their native Norway. By his mid-twenties Knute saves enough toattend obscure Notre Dame University| where he excels in football and chemistry. He and a teammate develop the forward pass as an offensive weapon while working aslife guards on summer break and use it to upset heavily favored Army in a historic game. After graduation Rockne becomes a teacher while coaching part-time butultimately abandons academics to devote all his energies to football. During his tenure as head coach at the school| he develops such outstanding players as GeorgeGipp| who dies prematurely from a strep infection| and the Four Horseman while introducing many innovative tactics including the backfield shift. Rockne| known forhis staccato motivational speeches| devotes his life to maintaining the integrity of the sport he loves and promoting it as an integral component in the developmentof the American ...e