Christie Flanagan graduated from Port Arthur High School in 1923. Although he didn't make All-State in football, he was considered one of the best players to come out of Texas in the 1920s. In 1923 he was a walk-on at Notre Dame when the famed "Four Horsemen" were seniors, and Flanagan was red-shirted by Coach Knute Rockne. Flanagan's first season as a varsity starter was in 1925. His first game was against Baylor. Notre Dame beat Baylor 41-0, and Flanagan became famous.
 
The following season, Flanagan made his legendary 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. Sportswriter Grantland Rice, who named the "Four Horsemen," dubbed Flanagan the "Lone Horseman."
 
In 1927, he played against USC on Soldier Field in Chicago before a crowd of 128,000 people, the largest 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 average of 6.4 yards remains the second-highest in the school's history.
 
Flanagan graduated in 1928 and moved on to coaching. He coached at Purdue from 1929 - 1930, and the Boilermakers won the Big Ten championship and a trip to the Rose Bowl. 
 
Flanagan eventually returned to Port Arthur at the request of his father to work in the family shipping business. 

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