Why Notre Dame?

For me, it started when I was nine years old, watching a game between the Fighting Irish and Air Force. I thought those uniforms looked cool and the players were tough. As it turned out, the Irish lost that game in 1996, in Lou Holtz' last year as head coach. From then on, I was a Notre Dame football fan even though I knew next to nothing about what makes it such a great place except for the fact that Joe Montana, my boyhood hero, had gone to school there. I suffered through Bob Davie and Ty Willingham coached teams who many times lost more games than they won. Most kids want to follow a sports team that is a winner but there was just something about that football team and school that I loved.

Many Notre Dame football fans are either alums, Catholic, or born into a family of Notre Dame supports, or all of those...but I wasn't. The thing that drew me in after my initial years of watching them was all the tradition and history. "The Four Horseman," "Touchdown Jesus," the golden dome, the 11 national championships, seven Heisman trophy winners, etc. I was just totally in love with all of the traditions that Notre Dame has, all the history and great players and coaches who have been associated with the Irish. Just thinking about it gives me chills.

I finally made my first trip to South Bend in 2005 for the Blue-Gold spring game. My heart pounded so hard the first time I caught a glimpse of the golden dome that I thought I was going to pass out. Once I got on campus, I could just feel that spirit that everyone talks about. It is much more than about just football that makes it a special place and I found out that day. It will always be about a lot more than football that I love Notre Dame, football is just a very small part...and that's why it is such a great place.