Born in Beaumont, Texas, Christie Flanagan, the son of Christie Sr. and Mae Flanagan of Port Arthur, graduated from Port Arthur High School in 1923 where he played varsity football for two years. Although he didn't make All-State, he was considered one of the best players to come out of the Texas high school system in the 1920s. While in high school, Flanagan spent two summers at Culver Military Institute in Indiana. It was at the suggestion of a tactical officer there, a Notre Dame alumnus, that he enrolled at the university in 1923. He played on the freshman team as a walk-on. However, the "Four Horsemen" were seniors the following year, and Flanagan was red shirted by coach Knute Rockne. He didn't play a down in the 1924 season, but he did scrimmage daily against the Four Horsemen and the Seven Mules, as the line was known. Flanagan's first season as a varsity starter was in 1925, and his first game was against Baylor, undefeated in their conference for the preceding three seasons. Notre Dame beat Baylor 41-0, and Flanagan instantly became famous for his part in the victory. That year he scored more points than the "Galloping Ghost" Red Grange, a senior at Illinois. The following season, Flanagan made his famous run against Army in Yankee Stadium. He ran 63 yards for a touchdown on the "perfect play," and not a hand touched him on the way to the end zone. The game was the first successful football broadcast on coast to coast radio. The next day Grantland Rice, creator of the famous Four Horsemen, dubbed Flanagan the "Lone Horseman." Flanagan went on to lead Notre Dame to a 20-7 victory over a standout Minnesota team led by Bronko Nagurski. The day after the game, Minnesota coach Don Spears called Flanagan "one of the greatest backfield men you will ever see play football." Flanagan made All-American that year and again in 1927. In 1927, he starred against USC in Soldier Field in Chicago before a crowd of 128,000 people, the largest crowd ever to watch a football game. Flanagan led Notre Dame in rushing all three of his varsity years, rushing for a total of 1,822 yards. This still ranks eleventh on the school's all-time list, even with the numerous changes in college football. His average per carry (6.4 yards) remains the second highest in the school's history. Flanagan graduated in 1928. As a personal favor to Rockne, he became assistant coach at St. Louis University under Hartley "Hunk" Anderson. Anderson later became head coach at Notre Dame during the 1929 - 1930 seasons, Flanagan coached at Purdue, and the Boilermakers won the Big Ten championship and a trip to the Rose Bowl. He coached the backfield at the U.S. Naval Academy from 1931 through 1933. From there he went to Duquesne in Pittsburgh as head coach and athletic director. After two years at Duquesne, Flanagan returned to Port Arthur at the request of his father and went to work in the Flanagan shipping business. The year after he left Duquesne, the team went to the Orange Bowl. Christie Flanagan raised four children in Port Arthur and passed away in 1991, leaving behind tales of the greatness of a walk-on at Notre Dame who would never accept a scholarship. Called "Perfect Play Flanagan" and "The Lone Horseman," he will always be remembered by fans of the Fighting Irish, and it all began in Port Arthur, Texas.

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