Harold "Red" Grange

Grange is still widely recognized for his contributions to both college and professional football, continually showing up on "greatest athletes" lists. In 1951 he was named a charter member of the College Football Hall of Fame and in 1963 he received the same honor for the Professional Football Hall of Fame. College Football News named him the best player of all time, and in its century-end retrospective, ESPN named him the 28th best athlete of the 20th century.

For all his accomplishments—the astounding college career, the legendary Michigan game, the popularity and respect he brought to professional football—Grange remained profoundly modest. "If you have the football and 11 guys are after you, if you're smart, you'll run," he once remarked. "They built my accomplishment way out of proportion," he also said. "I never got the idea that I was a tremendous big shot. I could carry a football well, but there are a lot of doctors and teachers and engineers who could do their thing better than I."

Grange's old coach, Bob Zuppke, who made no secret of his opposition to Grange's decision to turn pro, begged to differ, however. "They can argue all they like about the greatest football player who ever lived," he remarked after Grange left Illinois. "But I was satisfied I had him when I had Red Grange."