The Galloping Ghost will ride into College of DuPage

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In sport's Golden Age, he was football's golden boy.
Red Grange was the name, though he was commonly known as
The Galloping Ghost. While it's a shame they don't make nicknames like that any more, it's even more disappointing they don't make many players like the three-time All-American halfback.

Red Grange was so great and popular in college that immediately after signing him as a professional, the Chicago Bears put together a grueling 19-game, 67-day barnstorming tour to make money.
"This man Red Grange of Illinois is three or four men rolled into one for football purposes," wrote Damon Runyon. "He is Jack Dempsey, Babe Ruth, Al Jolson, Paavo Nurmi and Man o' War. Put together, they spell Grange."

If you made a football movie and the star scored four touchdowns, covering an incredible 262 yards, in just 12 minutes, would anyone think it was anything but fiction? But that's what Grange accomplished against one of the best defenses in the country. That 1924 game against Michigan so inspired Grantland Rice to give Grange his nickname and write:

A streak of fire, a breath of flame
Eluding all who reach and clutch;
A gray ghost thrown into the game
That rival hands may never touch;
A rubber bounding, blasting soul
Whose destination is the goal.

The storybook life of Harold (later to be called Red) Grange began on June 13, 1903 in Forksville, Pa. After his mother died when he was 5, his father Lyle, a foreman for a lumber company, moved the family to Wheaton, Ill., where four brothers had settled.

While Lyle switched professions and worked his way up to chief of police at Wheaton, his son starred in athletics. At Wheaton High School, he earned 16 letters in football, baseball, basketball and track (a four-time sprint champion).

Working summers as a helper on an ice truck enhanced his physical development. Eventually, he would be given the nickname, "The Wheaton Iceman." Despite scoring 75 touchdowns and 532 points in high school, Grange considered skipping football at Illinois and competing in basketball and track. But some fraternity brothers got Grange to change his mind with the use of a large wooden paddle.

Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016
Gates open: 10:30 a.m.; Kick-off: 1 p.m.
Tickets: $10 per ticket
Check back for ticket sale information.
All Proceeds from ticket sales will be donated to The Ronald McDonald House