"You know, I used to think I was a really great quarterback in high school. Still think so, too. Can't even bring myself to light a cigarette 'cause I keep thinkin' I gotta stay in shape. You know what really gets me, though? I mean, here I am, I gotta live in this stinkin' town, and I gotta read in the newspapers about some hot-shot kid, new star of the college team. Every year, it's gonna be a new one. Every year it's never gonna be me. I'm just gonna be Mike. Twenty year-old Mike. Thirty year-old Mike. Old, mean old man Mike. These college kids out here - they're never gonna get old or out of shape 'cause new ones come along every year. And they're gonna keep calling us 'Cutters'. To them, it's just a dirty word. To me, it's just somethin' else I never got a chance to be."

"I was sure I was going to get that scholarship. My dad of course was sure I wasn't. When I didn't, he was real understanding, you know. He loves to do that. He loves to be understanding when I fail."

"I was proud of my work. And the buildings went up. When they were finished the damnedest thing happened. It was like the buildings were too good for us. Nobody told us that. It just felt uncomfortable, that's all."

"[to Dave] What's the matter? What are you cryin' for? I think you lost your wallet or something. I didn't want you to be this miserable. A little bit's all I asked for."

"Robyn Douglass - Katherine"

"Glenn "Pop" Warner - Himself"

"Now I'm going to tell you something I've kept to myself for years. None of you ever knew George Gipp. He was long before your time, but you all know what a tradition he is at Notre Dame. And the last thing he said to me, "Rock," he said, "sometime when the team is up against it and the breaks are beating the boys, tell 'em to go out there with all they got and win just one for the Gipper. I don't know where I'll be then, Rock," he said, "but I'll know about it and I'll be happy.""

"We haven't got any use for gamblers around here. You've done your best to ruin baseball, and horse racing, and this is one game that's clean and is gonna stay clean."

"Rock, someday when the team's up against it, and the breaks are beating the boys, ask 'em 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, but I'll know about it. I'll be happy."

"Who can say for certain what a man was really born to be? That's God's will. Someday Knute will find his right place in the world, and when he does, whether it be science or not, I have a feeling it will be the one he was meant to do."

"Newsreel Announcer: [Newsreel film of Notre Dame using the backfield shift] What is this new miracle that Rockne has wrought? This bolt of Irish lightning, that strikes from all sides with such blinding speed and fury! A 'shift' they call it. Yes, but Heisman at Georgia Tech also has a shift, so has Tad Jones at Yale. But theirs are simple tunes compared to Rockne's symphony! For this shift is music, the music of a master's hand! Knute Rockne, whose ingenious brain perfected the forward pass, has brought a great new thrill to football and its millions of followers!"

"A Lot Of The Things That Made America Great Came From This Man!"

"HE TAUGHT HIS TEAMS THE WAY TO WIN...AND AMERICA THE WAY TO LIVE!"

"Pat O'Brien - Knute Rockne"

"Gale Page - Bonnie Skiles Rockne"

"Ronald Reagan - George Gipp"

"Donald Crisp - Father John Cavanaugh"

"Albert Bassermann - Father Julius Nieuwland"

"John Litel - Committee Chairman"

"Henry O'Neill - Doctor"

"Owen Davis Jr. - Gus Dorais"

"John Qualen - Lars Knutson Rockne"

"Dorothy Tree - Martha Rockne"

"Johnny Sheffield - Knute, age 7"

"Howard Jones - Himself"

"Alonzo Stagg - Himself"

"William "Bill" Spaulding - Himself"

"Kane Richmond - Elmer Layden"

"William Marshall - Don Miller"

"William Byrne - Jim Crowley"

"Nick Lukats - Harry Stuhldreher"

"[reading his essay] "What I want for Christmas. What I want is a Red Ryder BB gun with a compass in the stock... and this thing which tells time." Wow, that's great. "I think that everybody should have a Red Ryder BB gun. They're very good for Christmas. I don't think that a football's a very good Christmas present.""