Rise and Strike

If there is one thing that unites the global Notre Dame community, it is football. Each year, fans, students, and alumni around the world fanatically devote themselves to Notre Dame football. With minds racing and hearts beating wildly, they watch every second of every game. They rejoice in the unrestrained exhilaration of victory and solemnly embrace the humility of defeat. In many ways they are just as important to Notre Dame as the players they so passionately follow. For—with every snap, every pass, every tackle and touchdown—they band together with their football team to defend the honor of Notre Dame.

In truth, the honor of Notre Dame is equal parts academic and athletic. Few universities have as stellar an academic reputation as Notre Dame, and Notre Dame has many famed athletic programs, not the least of which is football. With eleven consensus national championships, seven Heisman Trophy winners, and 103 winning seasons in 121 years of football—Notre Dame definitely possesses a tradition of football excellence unmatched by any other university in the world. However, the fans, students, athletes, and alumni of Notre Dame cannot forever hide behind that tradition of honor. In fact, if they do not defend that honor both on and off the gridiron, it will surely tarnish and fade.

The message of The Shirt 2009, then, is simple. We—the fans, students, athletes, and alumni of Notre Dame—need to rise and strike. In Notre Dame Stadium, on the battleground of champions, we need to rise against the opposition and strike them down. We must strike fear into their hearts and drive them from the field. We must show the world that we are Notre Dame, that this place is sacred, and that we will not back down. We never have. We never will.