Curtin comes clean
By ANDREW SOUKUP
Sports Writer
Now that former Notre Dame offensive tackle Brennan Curtin has been drafted by an NFL team, he figured he could come clean about why the University suspended him for the Gator Bowl.
According to a report in Monday's Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Curtin said he was suspended when he asked a former teammate to submit a hair sample for a drug test. Curtin was afraid that brief exposure to marijuana smoke at a party would show up on the drug test, which he was scheduled to take a week later.
Because Notre Dame uses both hair and urine samples in drug tests, Curtin apparently asked fellow offensive tackle Jordan Black to submit a hair sample in his place. The plan failed, and the pair was suspended for Notre Dame's 28-6 loss to North Carolina State in the Gator Bowl and not allowed to travel with the team to Jacksonville, Fla.
Curtin then decided to waive his final year of eligibility and declare for the NFL Draft, where he was drafted in the sixth round by Green Bay. Black, who had used all four years of his college eligibility, was drafted in the fifth round by Kansas City.
"Because he was being deceitful, he was suspended from the team," Packers offensive line coach Larry Beightol told the Journal-Sentinel.
The 6-foot-9, 305-pound Curtin started 11 games for the Irish last year, missing only the USC game because of an injury and the Gator Bowl. The 6-foot-6, 305-pound Black didn't start his home finale against Rutgers because Irish coach Tyrone Willingham suspended the offensive tackle for reportedly having too many parking violations.
How much the suspensions hurt the pair's draft status is debatable. Packers general manager and head coach Mike Sherman called multiple Notre Dame officials to gauge Curtin's character before concluding the offensive tackle merely made a bad choice, the Journal-Sentinel said, and Beightol called landing Curtin "a steal."
Curtin and Black have ignored multiple request by The Observer for interviews since the suspension. University officials have repeatedly declined to comment on the pair's suspension.
All Sports Stories for Tuesday, April 29, 2003
