As we approach the 90th anniversary of Knute Rockne’s untimely death, it’s a good time to reflect on the Notre Dame icon’s legacy. Everyone knows what he meant to the football program and the university. However, despite being killed in a plane crash, his place in aviation is often overlooked. Jim Lefebvre, the Executive Director of the Knute Rockne Memorial Society, wrote a piece about it for the Chicago Sun-Times.
The short version is that Rockne was the first prominent American to die in this fashion, and the public immediately turned on the aviation industry out of anger. Eventually, airplanes stopped being produced with wooden wings and took on all-metal bodies, which provided enough comfort and safety for passengers that worldwide travel through the air soon became a regular thing. Also, the agency we now know as the FAA was more hands-on in regulating its industry and certifying aircraft.
While it was incredibly tragic to lose Rockne before his time, he ultimately played a role in making planes widely regarded as the safest form of travel. He should be remembered for that as much as the forward pass.