Irish athletes deserve a hand
Kathleen O'Brien
Associate Sports Editor
While I was attending my last football game in Notre Dame Stadium as a student on Saturday, I heard something that infuriated me.
The guys sitting behind me were casting insults at the players after every botched play. I fully understand being disappointed in bad plays, but the guys on the team deserve better from their classmates than to be belittled by them, especially in the last home game of their careers.
Varsity athletes at Notre Dame warrant more credit than they receive. Yes, they get a free education, but they also give a lot to the University in return.
In exchange for their athletic scholarship, they sacrifice the possibility of ever being a regular student.
Athletes spend long hours in practice every day striving to improve. Their heavily booked schedule leaves them with little time to spend on studies or a social life.
Most people don't realize the amount of hard work that goes into playing for a varsity team at an athletics-crazy school like Notre Dame. They are thanked for their efforts by Notre Dame "fans" that rip on them for turning in anything less than an undefeated season that ends with a National Championship.
Nobody's perfect. Guys are going to drop passes no matter how great of receivers they are; they're going to miss blocks no matter how many times they practice the move. But it's not because of a lack of effort or time put in, definitely not with this year's bunch.
The most-recognized players of Notre Dame's most popular sports — football, men's basketball and women's basketball — can't go anywhere without being hounded for autographs and photo shoots. Most willingly oblige, but the constant attention can get old.
Irish stars also have their every move analyzed by other students, becoming the topic of dining hall gossip — "Does so-and-so have a girlfriend/boyfriend?", "Guess who I saw at Finnigan's." or "What's so-and-so like?"
I know. People ask me these questions all the time, assuming that as a sportswriter, I must have some kind of insight into the lives of every athlete in the sports I write about. Even if I did, which I don't, I have no desire to contribute to the sea of rumors surrounding Notre Dame athletes.
Notre Dame athletes also help make Notre Dame what it is — a cult following around the nation. Do you think alumni would support Notre Dame to the same extent if Notre Dame dropped athletics or suddenly went 0-11 every year in football?
The students behind me at Notre Dame's win over Boston College obviously have a few credits left to go in the class department before graduation. Maybe they should have attended Friday night's pep rally — they could have learned something from Joey Getherall's speech.
The senior wide receiver thanked God, his parents, his coaches, his teammates [who he considers brothers], the seniors and all the Notre Dame fans for their support and for allowing him to play for Notre Dame. He talked about the dream come true of playing for Notre Dame and how sad he would be to finish his career here, so sad that he had to pause as he fought off tears.
Getherall also mentioned a teenager named Scott Delgadillo, and the inspiration to fight through pain and fatigue that he and the team take from Delgadillo. Delgadillo, a huge Notre Dame fan, is battling leukemia. What Getherall didn't say was how kind the Irish players and coaching staff have been to the boy, sending him get-well wishes, allowing him access to the locker room and inviting him to a game.
That's been the norm for Getherall and Co., who represent Notre Dame as well as any member of the Board of Trustees. At the end of practice and following home football games, the Irish postpone dinner or visits with family members to toss a football back and forth with well-wishing kids, sign autographs and get their pictures taken.
Not just football players, but almost all Notre Dame athletes, do the same.
My younger brothers, who are 7, 10 and 12 years old, are Notre Dame fanatics. When they came to campus the weekend of the Notre Dame-Air Force football game, members of the men's basketball team posed for photos with my brothers. David Graves even played one-on-one with my brother Brendan, who still thinks he won the game.
When this year's football seniors hoisted their gold helmets for the final time to the student section, they deserved every bit of cheering they got. What they haven't earned is the negative comments and occasional phone calls or emails they get after a loss.
I hope we win the next two games, go to a BCS game and come away victorious. However, if that doesn't happen, try, if you can, to be as classy as the guys on the team are and show them your support.
So the next time you get an urge to shout out an offensive comment to a Notre Dame athlete, think twice. They've devoted four years of their lives to making Irish eyes smile. Why don't you return the favor?
The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
All Sports Stories for Monday, November 13, 2000
