IRISH INSIDER: Decision to stay was right for wide receiver
By JOE LICANDRO
Sports Writer
After four years of working against the first team defense every day in practice, walk-on wide receiver Bernard Akatu was seriously contemplating whether to call his football career quits or return to exercise his final year of eligibility.
Even though he would be returning to Notre Dame for a fifth academic year, the 21-year old native of Lagos, Nigeria, was starting to question whether all the practices and team meetings were worth it any more.
"When they made the announcement there would be a new coaching staff, I got a little excited, but I didn't make my decision until I met with Coach Willingham. After I talked to him, I was so impressed with the man I met that I thought this was definitely the right direction for Notre Dame football," Akatu said.
As this season has unfolded, it turns out Akatu's instincts were correct. With a 9-1 record and No. 8 national ranking, Notre Dame has proved the doubters wrong all season. Akatu is extremely thankful for the way Willingham has quickly left his imprint on the program.
"I'm not going to sit here and say that I predicted we would be 9-1, but I thought we could compete with every team on our schedule. At no point, did I ever doubt that we were good enough to win a national championship," said Akatu. "Willingham now has made us believe we can win a national championship."
Both on and off the field, Akatu has a great sense of humor. Although he is the constant recipient of ribbing from his teammates, the fifth-year senior does not mind at all. As a walk-on, Akatu believes his job is to always carry a positive attitude into the locker room to keep his teammates loose for the games.
"Walk-on or not, football is tough for everybody. It is hard for all of us to do what we do both physically and mentally. So for you not to have some excitement about what you do is just putting an added stress on yourself," said Akatu.
Five years ago, Akatu entered Notre Dame planning to major in engineering, but after his junior year he began to have second thoughts. As he points out, sometimes life has a funny way of turning out.
"I was an engineer for three years. I kept hoping I'd like it, but it never happened. I don't remember a single professor or single class I liked so I guess that's not good," said Akatu with a laugh. "I thought I'd go into business because I like people."
Even if this season had turned out differently for Notre Dame, Akatu is glad he made the decision to come back. Throughout the past five years, he always had faith that Notre Dame football would return to glory. Now, he's thrilled that he's had the chance to be a part of it.
"I wouldn't say the last four years wouldn't have been worth it, but this year made it feel like hard work really pays off," said Akatu. "I cannot imagine what it had been like if last season had been my last year because I really would have felt that I hadn't accomplished much. I always believed this team could be good, but for some reason things just didn't work out. This year has been a huge sigh of relief."
All Sports Stories for Friday, November 22, 2002
