Grantland Rice - Legacy

Legacy

In 1951, in recognition of Rice's 50 years in journalism, an anonymous donor contributed $50,000 to establish the Grantland Rice Fellowship in Journalism with the New York Community Trust.

In 1954, the Football Writers Association established the Grantland Rice Memorial Award, given annually to an outstanding college player selected by the group.

The Grantland Rice Bowl, an annual college football bowl game held from 1964–1977, was named in his honor, as was the Grantland Rice Award given to the winner.

Rice was posthumously awarded the 1966 J. G. Taylor Spink Award by the Baseball Writers Association of America. The award, presented the following year at the annual induction ceremony at the Baseball Hall of Fame, is given for "meritorious contributions to baseball writing".

At Vanderbilt, a four-year scholarship named for Rice and former colleague and fellow Vanderbilt alumnus Fred Russell is awarded each year to a freshman who intends to pursue a career in sportswriting. Recipients of the Fred Russell–Grantland Rice Sportswriting Scholarship include author and humorist Roy Blount, Jr.; Skip Bayless of ESPN; Dave Sheinin of The Washington Post; and Tyler Kepner of The New York Times.

The press box in Vanderbilt Stadium at Vanderbilt University is dedicated to Rice and named after Rice's protégé, Fred Russell. For many years, a portion of one floor of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism was designated the "Grantland Rice Suite". Grantland Avenue in his hometown of Murfreesboro, Tennessee was named in his honor.

Rice was mentioned in an I Love Lucy episode entitled "The Camping Trip", and was portrayed by actor Lane Smith, also a native of Tennessee, in The Legend of Bagger Vance.

On June 8, 2011, ESPN's Bill Simmons launched a sports and popular culture website titled Grantland.com, a name intended to honor Rice's legacy.