When the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame come to Yankee Stadium next week for the historic 100th anniversary of the famous game when Notre Dame ‘s Four Horsemen were first named, you can bet Shrewsbury’s Ed Jones will be heading the cheering squad for Notre Dame. His grandfather, Elmer Layden, is one of the Four Horsemen who went down in college football history after trouncing Army 13-7 in their October match up of 1924.
Knute Rockne was the coach of the Fighting Irish that is also recognized for owing some debt of gratitude to Army. It was 11 years earlier, in 1913, when Notre Dame’s football team was boycotted by the Big Ten and Army agreed to play the little-known catholic college team. Notre Dame was appreciative, but went on to beat Army 35-13, introducing the forward pass to the sport when Rockne was the receiver as a member of the team.
This year’s game on November 23 marks the third time the Fighting Irish came to New York for the Shamrock Series, beating the Black Knights in 2010 and Syracuse in 2018.
But it was that 1924 Army game when Jone’s grandfather, Elmer Layden, along with back fielders Harry Stuhldreher, Don Miller, Jim Crowley, dominated the game and were immortalized by sportswriter Grantland Rice who wrote “Outlined against a blue, gray October sky the Four Horsemen rode again.” A student, who later became sports editor of the Chicago Tribune, posed the four players in uniform and on horses, and the name and quartet went down in history.
Jone’s grandfather went on to earn more accolades for himself, going on to coach at several different colleges after his college football career, then was also head coach and athletic director for his alma mater, Notre Dame.
He was also the first commissioner of the National Football League established in 1940, and as such was the first person to mandate the National Anthem to be played before every National Football League game.
The Jones and Layden families have been honored and recognized at many football games since the Four Horsemen and around the time of each year’s Army Notre Dame match up, there are always newspaper accounts of their beloved grandfather and the pride they have of not only his athletic prowess but also his catholic faith, patriotism and dedication to excellence. It’s a family tradition that continues today.
