Jim Crowley James Harold " Jim " Crowley ( September 10 , 1902 – January 15 , 1986 ) was an American football player and coach . He gained fame as one - fourth of the University of Notre Dame ' s legendary " Four Horsemen " backfield where he played halfback from 1922 to 1924 . After a brief career as a professional football player , Crowley turned to coaching . He served as the head football coach at Michigan State College from 1929 to 1933 , at Fordham University from 1933 to 1941 and at the North Carolina Pre - Flight School compiling a career college football record of 86 – 23 – 11 . Crowley also coached the Chicago Rockets of the All - America Football Conference in 1947 . He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a player in 1966 . Professional playing and college coaching careers . Following his graduation from Notre Dame in 1925 , Crowley played in just three professional football games with the National Football League ' s Green Bay Packers and Providence Steamrollers . In 1925 , the Waterbury Blues signed Crowley , to join ex - Horseman Stuhldreher in the backfield against a team from Adams , Massachusetts . Crowley ' s regular job at the time was assistant coach at the University of Georgia . The Blues put on a good show by driving to a 34 – 0 triumph , with Crowley scoring three touchdowns and Stuhldreher booting two field goals and three extra points . Crowley picked up his check after the game and left the team . Crowley stayed in football as an assistant coach at Georgia and was named head coach at Michigan State University , then known as Michigan State College , in 1929 . In four seasons , Crowley ' s Michigan State Spartans went 22 – 8 – 3 . Football power Fordham University lured Crowley away from Michigan State in 1933 . Crowley enjoyed tremendous success at Fordham by building one of the top defensive teams in the country . In 1936 and 1937 . the Rams ' stout defensive line , coached by future Notre Dame head coach Frank Leahy , was dubbed the " Seven Blocks of Granite . " The defense was led by two - time All - American lineman Alex Wojciechowicz , who later starred professionally for the Detroit Lions and was named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame . Another " Block of Granite " , Vince Lombardi , would gain fame as a championship coach for the New York Giants and Green Bay Packers . In 1939 , Crowley coached Fordham in the first - ever televised football game . The Rams defeated the Waynesburg Yellow Jackets by a score of 34 – 7 . Crowley ' s last two teams at Fordham each went to bowl games . The Rams lost , 13 – 12 , to Texas A & M in the 1941 Cotton Bowl Classic and defeated the Missouri , 2 – 0 , in the 1942 Sugar Bowl . Crowley left Fordham after the Sugar Bowl , having compiled a record of 56 – 13 – 7 as the Rams ' head coach . World War II and the AAFC . During World War II , Crowley served with the United States Navy in the South Pacific . In 1942 , he served as the head coach for the North Carolina Pre - Flight School team and led the Cloudbusters to an overall record of 8 – 2 – 1 . In late 1944 , he agreed to become the first commissioner of a new professional football league , the All - America Football Conference . The league kicked off in 1946 and quickly became a formidable rival to the National Football League . Following the 1946 season , Crowley stepped down as commissioner to become part - owner and coach of the AAFC ' s worst team , the Chicago Rockets . Crowley ' s success as a college coach didn ' t translate to the pros . The Rockets went just 1 – 13 in 1947 and Crowley quit his dual role with the team before the 1948 season . Later life . Crowley left football behind following his disastrous stint with Chicago , moving to Pennsylvania to become an insurance salesman . In 1953 he moved to Scranton , Pennsylvania , to take over as station manager and sports director of independent television station WTVU . Two years later , Crowley was named chairman of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission , a position he held until 1963 . Named to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1966 as a player , Crowley cashed in on his football fame in the 1960s and 1970s as a much sought - after speaker at banquets and dinners . The last living member of the " Four Horsemen , " Crowley died in Scranton on January 15 , 1986 .