IRISH INSIDER: Fifth year doesn't wake O'Neill from dream
By MATT LOZAR
Sports Writer
Tim O'Neill couldn't give up the dream.
When the chance to play a fifth-year for the Irish came, the 5-foot-6 walk-on couldn't say no.
"I have always wanted to play football at Notre Dame. If you have the chance to do it for one more year, I mean, that was an easy decision for me to make," O'Neill said. "If you still enjoy playing and you are playing at Notre Dame, then you are going to come back."
The announcement of Irish coach Tyrone Willingham replacing former coach Bob Davie was just icing on the cake.
"The decision was made before [the coaching change] but obviously there is a lot of excitement with a new coach coming in," O'Neill said. "It has just been a tremendous experience. One of the best decisions I have ever made."
O'Neill rushed for 1,634 yards and scored 12 touchdowns at Athens high school in Troy, Mich. and passed up opportunities at other schools where he would be featured to attend Notre Dame.
"I often thought about that, because in high school you get the ball a lot, but if I got in to Notre Dame, this is where I was coming," O'Neill said. " It was Notre Dame and then I had some fallback plans. But if I got in to Notre Dame then I didn't think about anywhere else."
That intention to attend Notre Dame began early in O'Neill's life. Going to his first Notre Dame football game when he was seven years old, O'Neill watched wide receiver Tim Brown run back two kickoffs for touchdowns. O'Neill's older brother Mike also walked on at Notre Dame and played in 1991.
Three years ago in his sophomore season, O'Neill saw his first game action in Notre Dame's 48-17 win against Arizona State. O'Neill gained four yards on two attempts.
This season, O'Neill has carried the ball in two games. O'Neill gained four yards in Notre Dame's 22-0 defeat of Maryland in the Kickoff Classic and rushed for 18 yards against Stanford, including a career-long rush of 11 yards.
Despite seeing little playing time in his career, O'Neill relishes the opportunities he has been prepared for his entire life.
"It might surprise some people when you say you aren't nervous but when you have been playing football since fourth grade, that is what you prepare in the off-season," O'Neill said. "That is what you think about at night before you go to bed is getting in there and playing and contributing.
"I think if you have confidence in your abilities then you are not in awe or it's not like you can't believe you are in that situation because that's a situation you have pictured yourself in."
Running out of the tunnel, putting the uniform on for that first time or even his first carry aren't the moments that stick out in O'Neill's mind. It's the larger picture of being part of the team he will carry with him for the rest of his life.
"It's kind of hard to pinpoint just one experience," he said. "But just being with your teammates, just being in that family and supporting each other and making adjustments from high school to college and then accepting you into a family is the biggest thing."
That, and keeping the dream alive.
All Sports Stories for Friday, November 22, 2002
