The Reporter, The Priest, and Knute Rockne

On January 7, 1933, almost two years after the tragic death of legendary Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne, A Detroit Evening Times headline read: “Bomb Killed Rockne, Put in Plane by Gang”

A few years ago, retired journalist Jeff Harrell saw that shocking headline and curiosity got the best of him so he dug deeper. He found archived newspaper articles, official reports, interviews and more that backed up the theory that Rockne's plane was bombed. He compiled all of this research and wrote a captivating book that tells the story behind the plane's tragic crash: As God's Witness: The Death of Knute Rockne.

In short, a Notre Dame priest witnessed one of Al Capone's hitmen murder a Chicago Tribune street reporter. He received several threats from Capone's men before taking the witness stand and soon after testifying, he gave his plane ticket to Knute Rockne whose plane crashed three days later.

In this episode, I meet with author Jeff Harrell to hear all about the story behind his book. As I say in the episode, it's such an engaging book that is hard to put down!

Be sure to check out Jeff's website and purchase his book: https://www.spiritofknute.com/

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Thank you to InRugCo for sponsoring this episode! Be sure to visit their shop at 220 E. Mishawaka Ave in Mishawaka... across from the Central Park entrance.

Check out their website and you'll see why I'm so enthusiastic about partnering with them! https://indianarugco.com/

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Thank you to Augie's Locker Room for sponsoring this episode. Be sure to visit them at 1733 N. Ironwood Dr or visit their website at https://www.augieslockerroom.com/

You'll see that I am not exaggerating one bit when I say that Augie's Locker Room is a Notre Dame memorabilia museum.

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