The Gipper was George Gipp who played on the 1916 - 1920 Notre Dame football teams under Coach Knute Rockne. Gipp, pronounced with a hard G, had never played any sports until he met Rockne, then quickly, almost miraculously, and in his freshman year, he became the greatest player Notre Dame had ever had or would have for many years, most reporters considered him the greatest college player of his time and predicted a fantastic future. He could do it all and do it better than anyone else, he could run, pass, punt, and kick . He blocked better than a lineman, tackled harder than a linebacker, rush faster than a defensive guard, intercept like a corner back. He was a superb clutch player and an inspiration and motivator to the whole team, he urged mediocre players to greatness. The Gipper made Rockne and Rockne made the Gipper legends of their time and ours. Then the Gipper contracted strep throat which developed into pneumonia and was in the hospital for weeks, he was visited regularly by Rockne , the last time on the evening of December 13, 1920 - just hours before he died at the age of 25. Fast forward to 1928. Notre Dame and Rockne are already Football Legends, but their end may be at hand, due to injuries, they are having a disastrous season, the worst in Rockne's career, 4 wins 2 losses against mediocre teams and top ranked Army, Carnegie Tech and Southern California still to play. It's accepted that this is Rockne's last year, there are rumblings that football should be de-emphasized at Notre Dame, maybe even phased out! The Fighting Irish don't stand a chance against Army, Rockne gives a pre-game pep talk to the team in the locker room. All that is "fact" as reported in contemporary records, now we enter a realm of legend. Rockne tells them about the Gipper,none of the players had known him but they knew who and what he was,they knew Rockne had been at Gipp's bedside. Rockne repeats the Gipp's "last words," only he knows what they were, no one else was there, ""I've got to go, Rock," the Gipper told Rockne, "It's all right. I'm not afraid. Some time, Rock, when the team is up against it, when things are wrong and the breaks are beating the boys, tell them to go in there with all they've got and win just one for the Gipper. I don't know where I'll be then, Rock, but I'll know about it, and I'll be happy." ...the room is silent there's not a dry eye in the team. ""The day before he died George Gipp asked me to wait until the situation seemed hopeless - then ask a Notre Dame team to go out and beat Army for him. This is the day, and you are the team". The doors are almost torn off the hinges as the Irish rush towards the field. The mediocre Irish hold Mighty Army to a scoreless tie for 3 quarters. Then Army scores, 6-0, Army. Halfback Jack Chevigny leads the Irish downfield yard by yard and finally ties the game on a one yard plunge. He picks himself up and yells," That's one for the Gipper!" Later in the game Chevigny leaves the game with injuries, replaced by reserve Butch Neimiec, there are more injuries, third string Johnny O'Brien, a skinny hurdler for the track team, goes in at left end. Fourth quarter, the Irish have hobbled their way to Army's 32, Neimiec takes a handoff and brushes a defenders fingers with a slow loopy pass. The ball wobbles high over O'Brien's up stretched hands, he jumps and somehow gets a hand on it at the 10 stumbles and trips between two tacklers and falls into the end zone. "That's one for the Gipper too!" The injured Chevigny shouts from the sidelines . Final score, Notre Dame 12- Army 6, the Irish had " Won one for the Gipper." Did the Gipper really request just one more win four years previously? Nobody knows, but Rockne did give the speech saying he did and the phrase enters athletic , and gradually popular culture as an encouragement to give it all you got and more, no matter how hopeless the situation appears. Another fast forward to 1940, Rockne is a genuine legend and American hero, the Greatest Coach of All Time and probably Time to Come, but the Times to Come look bleak, Hollywood releases an inspiring movie "Knut Rockne, All American" with Pat O'Brien as Rockne and Ronald Reagan as George Gipp. The movie condenses time, the actors can't win because the Gipp has just died, not only was he the best player, they are each miserable at his passing, as a team they have no hope against Mighty Army without his fighting spirit. O'Brien gives his stirring speech at half time after the Irish have received a severe mauling, there's not a dry eye in the theater. The sound track segues from the music of doom to the chorus of salvation. The team is filled with the spirit of the holy Gipper and soundly trounces Army. The Gipper smiles down benignly, the phrase passes into general use just in time for WW2, then becomes a cliche overshadowed by more stirring slogans. Hollywood hacks over dramatized the true story worse than I did, but Reagan gave what some critics feel was his best performance. Another, and last, fast forward. The late 1970's , Reagan has finally given up acting ( well if his melodramatic role as the Gipp was his best) and became a professional politician. He uses the phrase in his campaign for US President.He is elected in 1980 and continues to use the phrase during his two terms. Going so far as to urge the Marines invading Granada to win it for the Gipper. More than once he recalls how the dedicated Americans worked together to win WW2 for the Gipper. It's not the only time he uses lines from his movies, he once repeated almost word for word his entire inspiring " Wolf Pack Spirit" speech from "Hellcats of the Navy. " Some people begin to worry that the President is having difficulty distinguishing between reality and movies, and between himself and roles he has played. Nonetheless the phrase regains some popularity but gains a slightly sardonic meaning which it hasn't entirely shaken. Nowadays it's used in a more or less humorous manner often referring to some tedious chore that must be done. I'm sorry for such a long answer, but I was inspired to give my all and more, and answer one for the Gipper.