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K. Chesterton's Fighting Irish Poem: The
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Play Like a Champion Today
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[The
Montana Mazurkiewicz Story: three
accounts and a video]
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Pass Right!
Quarterbacks
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This
link is a promotion of a dvd for sale [Inside the Irish Huddle]
but the trailer is a free, enjoyable video clip. Click
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Charlie
Weis ND Show on ESPN2 "Quite Frankly"
Quite
Frankly, moderated by Stephen A. Smith, was telecast August 2, 2005.
Charlie Weis was the guest of honor, joined by Lou Holtz, Rocket Ismail,
and Regis Philbin. The audience consisted entirely of members
of alumni clubs of NYC and Long Island. Credit:
www.casparforest.net / Thanks to IrishMusings
Charlie
Weis ND Show on ESPN2 "Quite Frankly"
| We
are the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame
Excellence
has never been, nor will ever be easy or without pain. It is
a sacrifice that requires the commitment of the coaches the
players the university faculty, its students and its vast alumni
and subway alumni networks. But the payoff, a shining symbol
of excellence, like the dome glistening on a crisp autumn day,
is a reward beyond measure.
We
pursue excellence with humility, because we know our success
is the embodiment of a tradition started long ago, built on
meager beginnings and forged in courage, conviction, fight and
determination. The history of the Irish is a history of the
misbegotten, the disenfranchised and, yes, the misbehaved. The
Fighting Irish was never a phrase of superiority, but of inferiority
overcoming all odds. It wasn't a compliment to be called Fighting
Irish, but a begrudging acknowledgement of a repressed spirit
that would never die.
The
challenge now is to build on the past and create a spirit of
excellence for the future that will bind the generations of
those who passed through here in an unbreakable kinship. You've
all heard the excuses: that Notre Dame can't win anymore. the
academics are too hard and the schedule is too strong. They
said the same things when Ara came to South Bend and he won
a championship. They said the same things when Lou came here
and he won a championship. They are saying the same things now
and I believe we can win a championship, together.
We
are unapologetic in our pursuit of excellence in academics,
athletics and the spirit of helping others. We understand the
struggle, we will not compromise and together we will continue
the legacy of excellence of those that came before us. We do
this knowing there are those who will misunderstand us, think
us arrogant or wish us to fail. So be it. We do not need to
explain ourselves. We are unbowed. We are the Fighting Irish
of Notre Dame and we will be champions again.
An
Excerpt from
The Rock 8/12 [NDNATION.COM]
by The
Rock (August 12, 2005 at 14:16:25)
|
Montana,
Rockne, you get the picture?
The
Montana Mazurkiewicz Story: A
compendium of three accounts and a video
Watch
the Video [from WNDU.com]
P a s s R i g h t !
Weis
used play called by dying boy
By
TOM COYNE, AP Sports Writer
September 25, 2005
SOUTH
BEND, Ind. (AP) -- Charlie Weis doesn't usually let anyone else call
plays on offense. He made an exception for 10-year-old Montana Mazurkiewicz.
The
Notre Dame coach met last week with Montana, who had been told by
doctors weeks earlier that there was nothing more they could do to
stop the spread of his inoperable brain tumor.
``He
was a big Notre Dame fan in general, but football especially,'' said
his mother, Cathy Mazurkiewicz.
Weis
showed up at the Mazurkiewicz home in Mishawaka, just east of South
Bend, and talked with Montana about his tumor and about Weis' 10-year-old
daughter, Hannah, who has global development delay, a rare disorder
similar to autism.
He
told Montana about some pranks he played on Joe Montana -- whom Montana
was named after -- while they were roommates at Notre Dame.
``I
gave him a chance to hammer me on the Michigan State loss, which he
did very well. He reminded me of my son,'' said Weis, whose son, Charlie
Jr., is 12 years old. Weis said the meeting was touching. ``He told
me about his love for Notre Dame football and how he just wanted to
make it through this game this week,'' Weis said. ``He just wanted
to be able to live through this game because he knew he wasn't going
to live very much longer.''
As
Weis talked to the boy, Cathy Mazurkiewicz rubbed her son's shoulder
trying to ease his pain. Weis said he could tell the boy was trying
not to show he was in pain. His mother told Montana, who had just
become paralyzed from the waist down a day earlier because of the
tumor, to toss her a football Weis had given him. Montana tried to
throw the football, put could barely lift it. So Weis climbed into
the reclining chair with him and helped him complete the pass to his
mother.
Before
leaving, Weis signed the football.
``He
wrote, 'Live for today for tomorrow is always another day,''' Mazurkiewicz
said. ``He told him: 'You can't worry about tomorrow. Just live today
for everything it has and everything you can appreciate,'' she said.
``He said: 'If you're (in pain) today you might not necessarily be
in pain tomorrow, or it might be worse. But there's always another
day.''
Weis
asked Montana if there was something he could do for him. He agreed
to let Montana call the first play against Washington on Saturday.
He called ``pass right.''
Montana
never got to see the play. He died Friday at his home.
Weis
heard about the death and called Mazurkiewicz on Friday night to assure
her he would still call Montana's play. ``He said, 'This game is for
Montana, and the play still stands,''' she said.
Weis
said he told the team about the visit. He said it wasn't a ``Win one
for the Gipper'' speech, because he doesn't believe in using individuals
as inspiration. He just wanted the team to know people like Montana
are out there. ``That they represent a lot of people that they don't
even realize they're representing,'' Weis said.
When
the Irish started on their own 1-yard-line following a fumble recovery,
Mazurkiewicz wasn't sure Notre Dame would be able to throw a pass.
Weis was concerned about that, too. So was quarterback Brady Quinn.
``He
said what are we going to do?'' Weis said. ``I said we have no choice.
We're throwing it to the right.'' Weis called a play where most
of the Irish went left, Quinn ran right and looked for tight end Anthony
Fasano on the right.
Mazurkiewicz
watched with her family. ``I just closed my eyes. I thought, 'There's
no way he's going to be able to make that pass. Not from where they're
at. He's going to get sacked and Washington's going to get two points,'''
she said.
Fasano
caught the pass and leapt over a defender for a 13-yard gain. ``It's
almost like Montana was willing him to beat that defender and take
it to the house,'' Weis said.
"He
said 'What are we going to do?' I said 'We have no choice.
We're
throwing it to the right' " __ Charlie Weis
Mazurkiewicz
was happy. ``It was an amazing play. Montana would have been very
pleased. I was very pleased,'' she said. ``I was just so overwhelmed.
I couldn't watch much more.''
Weis
called her again after the game, a 36-17 victory by the 13th-ranked
Fighting Irish, and said he had a game ball signed by the team that
he wanted to bring to the family on Sunday.
``He's
a very neat man. Very compassionate,'' she said. ``I just thanked
him for using that play, no matter the circumstances.''
Charlie
Weis Press Conference Transcript (Sept. 25, 2005)
COACH
WEIS: ... As was brought up earlier, Montana, there's a young boy
by the name of Montana Mazurkiewicz who died on Thursday of this week.
You know, very often Notre Dame gets asked to get involved with different
people. This is a kid from Mishawaka who on Wednesday, I went over
to visit him during the day for a brief time, brought him a ball and
a couple of T shirts and hats and stuff.
It
was a very compelling visit, one that I'll always remember the rest
of my life. When you walk in, here is this 10 year old kid with inoperable
brain cancer. They basically told me he had a couple weeks to live.
If you looked at him, you would know that a couple weeks was more
realistically a couple days.
I
sat there with his mom and his brother, his mom Cathy, his brother
Rockne. Montana, Rockne, you get the picture? First of all, I gave
him an opportunity to hammer me on the Michigan State loss, which
he did very well. Reminded me of my son. Then I was able to get a
couple smiles out of him. His mom got to take a couple pictures. She
said it was the first time he really smiled in about three months.
But
here is a 10 year old kid sitting there telling you, "Yeah, I have
a tumor that's inoperable." He knew he was going. He had lost feeling
in his lower body. While I'm sitting there, he has pains in his shoulders,
asking his mother to rub him down. He's trying not to be a wimp. When
you see the kid, it was really disheartening.
I
sat there with the kid, we talked about Notre Dame football. He talked
to me about his love for Notre Dame football, how he just wanted to
make it through this game this week. He just wanted to be able to
live through this game so he could watch that game because he knew
he wasn't going to last very much longer.
I
said, "What can I do for you?" He said, "I don't know." I said, "I'll
tell you what. What do you want me to do on the first play of the
game? Run or pass?" Like any 10 year old kid, the answer is going
to be pass. I said, "Okay."
All
of a sudden (in the game) we're on the one-yard line, the first time
we get the ball. I say, "I have a problem here." I had told the team
briefly about Montana on Wednesday because it was kind of a compelling
visit, like I said. I told them how important Notre Dame football
is to a lot of people. I was using Montana as an example. I'm not
big on "Win one for the Gipper" type of deals, but
I
wanted people to realize how important they are as football players
at Notre Dame, that they represent a lot of people that they don't
even realize they're representing. Sometimes you think of the media.
Sometimes you think of the alumni. You don't think of the 10 year
old kid who is dying of cancer.
We're
on the one-yard line. I told him I'd try to throw a pass to the right.
I told Brady (Quinn) what I was going to do. We're on the one- yard
line. "What are we going to do?" "I got no choice, we're throwing
it to the right. Let's call bootleg. (Anthony) Fasano is going to
be open, try to get it out of here, get it off the goal line." Anthony
makes the catch, in a rare moment of athleticism, he leaps over the
defender, gets some extra yards. It's almost as if Montana was willing
him to beat that defender and take it to the house.
I
got the message when we were in Seattle, I got the message through
a phone call that Montana had died. I called their house, I talked
to his brother Rockne. Rockne said, "The only thing I really wish
on behalf of Montana is that you guys would be thinking of Montana
and playing in his memory." I try not to use any individual as a motivational
tool. I promised Rockne that after this game was over, if we won the
game, I would get this ball signed and bring it over to their house.
The ball is signed. After I meet with the players today, I'm going
over there today to give it to them.
Just
so you know, that's not to make me out to be a good guy. I was asked
by somebody from the university to go. I thought it was the right
thing to do. I tell you what, to watch a kid that's 10 years old,
a lot of times we look at people that are older, that are sick, we
feel bad for them, which we should. But having two kids myself, knowing
that I would do anything in the world for my kids, to watch this 10
year old kid, knowing there wasn't much time left in this kid's life,
and the only thing that could get a smile out of him was the head
coach from Notre Dame sitting there talking about Notre Dame football,
it makes me feel good that I went over there. I'd feel really bad
if I didn't.
If
you'd like to ask any questions about that, I'd answer them. I think
I tried to answer that as best I could.
Q.
How old are your kids?
COACH
WEIS: My kids are 12 and 10. My daughter was 10. The thought went
through my mind. My daughter Hanna has special needs, we have our
own set of problems. The first thing I did was call my wife up, "We
think we got problems with Hanna." This kid could be lucky if he makes
it to the weekend. Unfortunately, I was prophetic.
Q.
When exactly did you meet with him?
COACH
WEIS: I met with him Wednesday because we left on Thursday. I went
over there on Wednesday after I finished doing what I was doing. I
got the call Thursday night when we were in Seattle.
Q.
Did you talk to the family after the game?
COACH
WEIS: I talked to Cathy after the game yesterday. I said, "Did you
see the first play?" She said, "Yeah, I was watching." She was toughening
it out. She's a tough lady. But I called her just to let her know,
A, that I was thinking of her and her family, and B, we called the
play he wanted and it worked, that I'd be or the house today, to bring
that game ball, which I promised I'd get that game ball and bring
it over to their house, which I wanted to.
Q.
What did you, or your team, learn from this experience?
COACH
WEIS: Two things I said before, I'll tie together. One is I'm a big
family guy. In addition to my wife, my son Charlie and my daughter
Hanna - that's why I live. As a matter of fact, I was sick years ago,
probably should have died. I know that I stayed alive because of them.
Willed me not to die. To watch a kid that's 10- years-old only get
a smile to his face because of his passion and love for Notre Dame
football, that's really a good moral to tell your own players to realize
to let them understand who they're representing when they put on that
uniform. It's not just the university they're representing, it's all
the people who support that university. Sometimes we forget who they
are because you think you're on a pedestal and you're bigger than
the rest. It really it kind of brings you back down to earth, realize
how important it is to wear that jersey.
Not
to bring a somber note, but I think for Montana's sake, I hope he's
smiling in heaven right now, and I'm glad he's out of pain. I'm glad
we won, by the way, too, so I could bring him the ball.
God, Country, Notre Dame: Montana
Mazurkiewicz was a fan of both the US Military and Notre Dame football
WNDU.com
Story and Video Clip
Young
brain tumor victim was an Irish fan
Posted:
09/25/2005 04:27 pm
Last Updated: 09/26/2005 09:35 am
[Watch
Video (01:26)]
Mishawaka,
IN - He was only ten years old, but Montana Mazurkiewicz had a fighting
spirit that surpassed his young age. Montana battled brain cancer
for a year and a half before losing that battle just days ago. He
and his family were huge fans of the Fighting Irish, and in fact,
Montana was named for the great Joe Montana himself.
His
fight for life made a big impact on the team, and earlier Sunday,
Irish head football coach Charlie Weis gave Montana's mother the game
ball from Saturday's win against Washington.
However, that wasn't the only thing Weis gave the Mazurkiewicz family.
The visit Sunday was Weis' second trip to Montana's Mishawaka
home. His first was on Wednesday before the team left for Seattle.
During that first visit, Weis made a promise to Montana that during
the first play off of scrimmage during Notre Dame's game Saturday
against Washington, the ball would be passed to the right.
Saturday, as strange as it seemed to onlookers, Weis kept his word
and that is exactly the play that took place. From the one-yard line,
quarterback Brady Quinn passed to Anthony Fasano, to the right.
Coach Weis with Montana just days before he passed away
Weis said Sunday of his visit with Montana earlier in the week, “Here
is a ten-year-old kid sitting there telling you, ‘Yeah, I have
a tumor that's inoperable.’ He knew he was going. He had lost
feeling in his lower body. While I'm sitting there, he has pains in
his shoulders, asking his mother to rub him down. He's trying not
to be a wimp. When you see the kid, it was really disheartening. I
sat there with the kid. We talked about Notre Dame football. He talked
to me about his love for Notre Dame football, how he just wanted to
make it through this game this week.”
Unfortunately, little Montana passed away on Friday, one day before
the game, and one day before seeing his wish fulfilled.
The ball given to the Mazurkiewicz family is now under watch by Montana's
brother, Rockne Mazurkiewicz.
A visitation for family and friends is scheduled for Monday from 2:00
PM to 8:00 PM at the Hahn Funeral Home in Mishawaka.
Montana's funeral will be at 10:30 AM Tuesday at Osceola United Methodist
Church.
Dear
Irish Fans,
I am sure you have all heard the remarkable but sad story of Montana
Mazurkiewicz. I had the privilege of coaching him during with the
Mishawaka Youth Football League during his third grade season. He
had a fighting spirit that surpassed his young age that I will never
forget. Just days ago, Montana lost a year and a half battle with
brain cancer.
I wanted to share an article by BlueandGold.com's Tim Goodenow regarding
Montana and Irish head coach Charlie Weis. The University of Notre
Dame has had a profound impact on my life and continues to touch many
lives today. I have never been more proud to associate myself with
Notre Dame after reading this article.
Hope you enjoy it and please say a prayer for Montana who is smiling
down on us.
Regards,
Tony Rice
BlueandGold.com
Another
Side of Charlie Weis
By Tim Goodenow
There is very little you will learn about Notre Dame football in this
piece. No postgame analysis following yesterday's win in Seattle,
no prognostications on what will happen next week at Purdue, not even
a sniff of high school recruiting news. But you will learn a lot about
that supposedly gruff, cranky guy now responsible for Irish fortunes
on fall Saturdays.
This article is about one play in the game versus Washington. If you
saw the game, you will remember that first offensive play. The one
where tight end Anthony Fasano caught the pass in the flat and hurdled
a defender for a 13-yard gain. Charlie Weis did not call that play.
Montana called that play, and I don't mean Joe Montana.
Charlie Weis is the head coach at the University of Notre Dame - the
most storied and recognizable college football program of all time.
He has been tabbed "an offensive genius", "a man that never sleeps,"
"an organized machine," and even "a savior."
But make no mistake about it, Weis is no tin man without a heart.
He is vulnerable and human like all of us because of that big heart.
Last week before the Washington game the distractions and media hype
were unusually intense as the Irish prepared to meet their former
coach, Tyrone Willingham. However, Weis thought a request so important
that he carved out time from his tireless review of film and constant
game planning.
Mishawaka, Ind., native Montana Mazurkiewicz welcomed Weis into his
home on Wednesday. Montana is a 10-year-old who had been told a few
weeks earlier there was nothing more to be done that could stop the
spread of his inoperable brain tumor. In addition to having a reputation
as being funny and a prankster, like many boys he loved sports, and
Notre Dame was his favorite team.
"I sat there with the kid, we talked about Notre Dame football," Weis
said. "He talked to me about his love for Notre Dame football, how
he just wanted to make it through this game this week. He just wanted
to be able to live through this game so he could watch that game because
he knew he wasn't going to last very much longer."
A tough conversation with an ill child was nothing new for the coach.
Weis chatted with Montana about the tumor and shared with him the
story of his own 10-year-old daughter Hannah, who herself struggles
daily with a disorder similar to autism.
Weis looked at Montana and said, "What can I do for you? I'll tell
you what. What do you want me to do on the first play of the game?
Run or pass? Like any 10-year-old kid, the answer is going to be pass.
I said, 'Okay.' "
As they joked and talked, Montana's mother rubbed her son's shoulder,
trying to ease his pain. Weis said he could tell the young fan, who
had recently become paralyzed from the waist down, was trying not
to show he was in pain.
The Washington game was a no-win situation for Weis. Win by a few
points - you just had better talent. Win by a bunch - you wanted to
embarrass the old coach. Lose - why did they fire that other guy?
But here in a Mishawaka bedroom was Weis secretly scripting play number
one with Montana's help.
Saturday arrived and the Irish went on offense after recovering a
Husky fumble, but backed up on its own 1-yard line.
"All of a sudden (in the game) we're on the one-yard line, the first
time we get the ball," Weis recalled. "I told him (Montana) I'd try
to throw a pass to the right. I told Brady (Quinn) what I was going
to do. We're on the one-yard line. "What are we going to do?" "I got
no choice, we're throwing it to the right."
You probably saw the play. The sure-handed Fasano adding some flair
to the catch by leaping over a defender to earn the first down and
give the Irish some breathing room.
"It's almost as if Montana was willing him to beat that defender and
take it to the house," Weis said.
"I tell you what, to watch a kid that's 10 years old, a lot of times
we look at people that are older, that are sick, we feel bad for them,
which we should," Weis said. "But having two kids myself, knowing
that I would do anything in the world for my kids, to watch this 10-year-old
kid, knowing there wasn't much time left in this kid's life, and the
only thing that could get a smile out of him was the head coach from
Notre Dame sitting there talking about Notre Dame football, it makes
me feel good that I went over there. I'd feel really bad if I didn't."
Unfortunately, Montana passed away on Friday after fighting the good
fight for 18 months. Weis was notified that evening and called the
Mazurkiewicz family to assure them he would still call Montana's play.
And I believe Montana probably had a better view of the play than
even the crew in the Goodyear blimp.
Notre Dame is a special place. The demands placed on its football
coach and the expectations for the program are unlike those found
at any other institution. The administrators desperately needed to
make the right hire.
By selecting one Charlie Weis, they got a coach with three admirable
character traits. The fans already thought they had hired the lion,
with the courage to take on the most difficult job in the country.
And it seemed they had also hired the scarecrow, with the brains to
outscheme any opponent.
And now it appears they also got the tin man, a coach with a heart
not always on display at practice, in the film room, or at press gatherings.
But it is in there, beating away in a man with values and an appreciation
for what is important that exceeds any knowledge he brings to the
football field.
[Tim Goodenow is the Web Editor of BlueandGold.com.]
[South
Bend Tribune Photo / BARBARA ALLISON]
Cathy
Mazurkiewicz, right, embraces University of Notre Dame head football
coach Charlie Weis after he presented the Mishawaka woman with a game
ball Sunday at her home. Mazurkiewicz family members were gathered
there to mourn the loss of Cathy's son, 10-year-old Montana, who died
of brain cancer early Friday morning.
G.
K. Chesterton's Fighting Irish Poem:
The
Arena
[Note:
"This was written back in 1930, or thereabouts, when G.
K. Chesterton visited ND on a lecture tour. I first heard about the
poem reading one of Prof. McInerny's mysteries (can't remember which
one), and you can find it posted online at the website
of Prof. Alfred J. Freddoso (John and Jean Oesterle Professor of Thomastic
Studies, University of Notre Dame) at The
Arena. I think that Chesterton would have enjoyed what
(Charlie) Weis is doing." _ posted by "Thursday" on
ndnation.com]:
The
Arena
Causa
Nostrae Laetitiae
(Dedicated to the University of Notre Dame, Indiana)
There
uprose a golden giant
On the gilded house of Nero
Even his far-flung flaming shadow
and
his image swollen large
Looking down on the dry whirlpool
Of the round Arena spinning
As a chariot-wheel goes spinning
and
the chariots at the charge.
And the molten monstrous visage
Saw the pageants, saw the torments,
Down the golden dust undazzled
saw
the gladiators go,
Heard the cry in the closed desert
Te salutant morituri,
As the slaves of doom went
stumbling,
shuddering, to the shades below.
"Lord of Life, of lyres and laughter,
Those about to die salute thee,
At thy godlike fancy feeding men with bread
and
beasts with men,
But for us the Fates point deathward
In a thousand thumbs thrust downward,
And the Dog of Hell is roaring
through
the lions in their den."
I have seen, where a strange country
Opened its secret plains about me,
One great golden dome stand
lonely
with its golden image, one
Seen
afar, in strange fulfillment,
Through the sunlit Indian summer
That Apocalyptic portent
that
has clothed her with the Sun.
She too looks on the Arena
Sees the gladiators grapple,
She whose names are Seven Sorrows
and
the Cause of All Our Joy,
Sees the pit that stank with slaughter
Scoured to make the courts of morning
For the cheers of jesting kindred
and
the scampering of a boy.
"Queen of Death and deadly weeping
Those about to live salute thee,
Youth untroubled; youth untutored;
hateless
war and harmless mirth
And the New Lord's larger largesse
Holier bread and happier circus,
Since the Queen of Sevenfold Sorrow
has
brought joy upon the earth."
Burns above the broad arena
Where the whirling centuries circle,
Burns the Sun-clothed on the summit,
golden-sheeted,
golden shod,
Like a sun-burst on the mountains,
Like the flames upon the forest
Of the sunbeams of the sword-blades
of
the Gladiators of God.
And I saw them shock the whirlwind
Of the World of dust and dazzle
And thrice they stamped, a thunderclap,
And
thrice the sand-wheel swirled;
And thrice they cried like thunder
On Our Lady of the Victories,
The Mother of the Master
of
the Masterers of the World.
"Queen of Death and Life undying
Those about to live salute thee;
Not the crawlers with the cattle;
looking
deathward with the swine,
But the shout upon the mountains
Of the men that live for ever
Who are free of all things living
but
a Child; and He was thine."
--
G.K. Chesterton (1930)
|
Play
Like a Champion Today
Holtz,
sign maker behind tradition of 'Play Like A Champion Today'
[SI.com]
Posted: Wednesday Sep 13, 2006 3:56 PM
SOUTH
BEND, Ind. (AP) Laurie Wenger had no idea her simple painting would
one day be a masterpiece that would inspire hundreds of football players
and thousands of fans.
Twenty
years ago, she was at her job painting signs at Notre Dame's arena
when Irish assistant coach George Stewart delivered a request from
new coach Lou Holtz.
"He
brought me a little sheet of paper that said, 'Play Like A Champion
Today,''' Wenger said. "He said, 'Coach Holtz wants a sign, he
wants it in blue and gold and he wants it for the stadium for the
players to hit on their way out to the field.'''
After
Holtz took the Notre Dame job, he went through all the books he could
on the storied football program's history and came across a photo
with a "Play Like A Champion Today'' sign.
"I
asked everybody, 'Who took it down?''' he said. "Nobody remembered
it even being up. So I said, 'Get that painted up. I'm going to put
it in the same place and everybody is going to hit it on the way out
to the field to remind them of all the sacrifices they have made,
their families have made and other people have made for them to be
there.''
It
took Wenger about a week to paint the 4-foot-high by 3-foot-wide wooden
sign, preparing the wood, priming it, painting it gold and then hand
lettering it in blue.
"I
worked like a bandit on it and got it to him as quickly as possible,''
she said. "The rest is history.''
John
Heisler, senior associate athletic director, said Notre Dame has tried
to find out where the sign Holtz saw in the photo came from. He said
no one, including former coaches remember it.
"I
don't even know where the phrase came from, but it certainly has become
associated with Notre Dame,'' Heisler said.
Few
people knew about the practice of players slapping the sign on the
way out to the field until NBC started putting a camera in the tunnel
in 1991, Heisler said.
Wenger
said the first person to ask her for a copy of the sign was former
Notre Dame walk-on Rudy Ruettiger, who wanted it for his basement.
Only a few people knew who he was at the point, since it was still
several years before the movie "Rudy'' came out.
"We
met this crazy Notre Dame fan and it turned out to be Rudy Ruettiger,''
said Wenger's husband, Ron. "We thought if this guy wants it,
why wouldn't anyone else? So we went to the university to seek permission
to make copies.''
Ron
Wenger said the university told them that since it didn't say "Notre
Dame'' on the sign, they could do what they wanted. The Wengers got
a trademark, started a business and now sell screenprinted signs as
well as hats, T-shirts and other items with the saying.
The
sign, which Wenger said she had to touch up once about 10 years ago,
has become another tradition on the tradition-laden campus. The Notre
Dame players don't know the history behind the sign, but they all
touch it on their way out to the field.
"I
don't know if it's tradition or not, but for me, individually, it
adds to my energy,'' tailback Darius Walker said. "I'm all energetic
coming down the stairs but once you touch the board its like the board
just bounces energy into you so it gets you even more pumped up and
hyped up before you go out there.''
Holtz
talked about the sign when he left the school after the 1996 season.
"I'll think about you coming out of the tunnel. I'll think about
you touching the 'Play Like a Champion' sign,'' he said. "I'll
relive it each and every week, and I'll have the fondest memories.''
Charlie
Weis Profiled on 60 Minutes
Sunday,
October 29, 2006
Big
Man on Campus
Steve
Kroft profiles Charlie Weis, head football coach at the University
of Notre Dame.
Eight
video clips from CBS 60 Minutes
posted
on Yahoo.com. Click on the images:
Weis defends
his tough coaching style
Weis
"miked" on the sidelines
"Coaches
are miserable by nature"
QB
Brady Quinn imitates his coach
The
Pros Play on Sundays
Coach
Like No Other
Weighty
Issues
Academic
Standards
