Harold Edward `` Red '' Grange ( June 13 , 1903 â `` January 28 , 1991 ) was an American Football halfback and actor that played in the National Football League ( NFL ) for 9 seasons . He was nicknamed the `` The Galloping Ghost '' from a Chicago sportswriter named Warren Brown . Harold Edward `` Red '' Grange , nicknamed `` The Galloping Ghost '' , ( June 13 , 1903 -- January 28 , 1991 ) was a college and professional American football halfback for the University of Illinois , the Chicago Bears , and for the short-lived New York Yankees .