Michigan State.
He remained close friends with Ara until Ara's death. Maybe they felt Protestants needed to stick together. . . .
Ara converted to Catholicism IIRC.
I thought I read somewhere that Ara converted later in life.
I googled and can find no evidence of that.
Sorry, my bad.
Edit: Maybe I'm thinking of Rockne's conversion to Catholicism.
1999 as of the top ten Massachusetts HS football players of the 20th century. He was also drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals (baseball).