1936 Fordham Rams football team

The 1936 Fordham Rams football team was an American football team that represented Fordham University as an independent during the 1936 college football season. In their fourth year under head coach Jim Crowley, the Rams compiled a 5–1–2 record and were ranked 15th in the final AP rankings in the first year for the poll.

The offense scored 128 points over eight games, while the defense allowed no more than seven points in any game, and shut out three teams, including second-ranked Pittsburgh.^[1] The team is best remembered for its line, the Seven Blocks of Granite,^[2] which included future National Football League (NFL) head coach Vince Lombardi. The line coach was Frank Leahy.^[3]

By mid-November, the Rams were 5–0–1 and ranked third with two games to play, and the leading candidate for a Rose Bowl invitation, but a tie with Georgia at the Polo Grounds dropped them to eighth.^[2][4] Five days later at Yankee Stadium on Thanksgiving, the NYU Violets handed the Rams a 7–6 defeat.^[5][6] Right guard Lombardi called it "the most devastating loss of my life," dashing the hopes of a bowl game. (The previous year, Fordham had spoiled NYU's undefeated season and bowl hopes with a 21–0 shutout.)^[7][8]