Rockne Romana

The Rockne Romana (1922-1935) is the third era in the unofficial interhall football chronology.

The era pays homage to the Pax Romana, or peace of Rome, a period of relatively stability in the Mediterranean region brought on by the Roman Empire. In this case, the "region" is interhall football, and the peace-bringer is the great Knute Rockne. Now, it is important to understand that the single most well-known fact of interhall football is also simply untrue. Rockne is not the founder of interhall football. Even when Rockne arrived at Notre Dame in the summer of 1910, interhall was celebrating its thirtieth anniversary, and had been organized for almost a decade. However, Rockne worked hard to establish the interhall leagues as the grand tradition they are known as today and made sure to inform its participants that the league still functioned as a direct line to the varsity football team. The era begins in 1922 when league expansion necessitated the introduction of divisions. Consequently, the winners of each division played in the modern iteration of the interhall championship game. The era ends with the unfortunate passing of St. Edward's halfback Richard "Dick" Sullivan, who sustained a grave neck injury in a game against Freshman Hall. As a result, new football coach Elmer Layden cancelled the remainder of the 1935 season, and interhall football would ultimately be banished from campus for the rest of the 1930s.

Key developments

• The modern system of organizing the interhall football league is introduced with divisions and the interhall championship game.

• Ten new teams more than double the size of the league, promising that the divisional round-robin system would remain in effect for the foreseeable future.

• Parity reigns supreme! Of the fifteen halls, twelve win the championship, and the remaining three all played in at least one title game.

  • Badin Hall holds the only brief dynasty during the era, winning three of the first four official interhall championship games and an unofficial title in 1923 to boot.

  • Of the new programs, Sophomore Hall is the most successful. The so-called "cardboard palace" won three titles before folding in 1932, a relatively short lifespan of nine seasons.

  • Ironically, Dillon Hall, the most prolific hall football team for most of league's history, won zero titles during their four seasons in the Romana.

• Many famous players and future varsity coaches became associated with the interhall football program through the Physical Education Department, which required students to coach a hall team for class credit.

Notable Participants

• Frank Leahy

• John Egan

• Richard "Dick" Sullivan

• "Jumping Joe" Savoldi

• Frank Carideo

Teams

Established

• Freshman Hall - 1922

• Sophomore Hall - 1923

• Howard Hall - 1925 - hall established 1924

• Lyons Hall - 1926 - hall established 1925

• Morrissey Hall - 1926 - hall established 1925

• Alumni Hall - 1931

• Dillon Hall - 1931

Disbanded

• Sophomore Hall - 1932 - demolished