Here’s the criteria I used:

• First, the game has to be against a quality opponent.
• Second, that team has to be from a major conference.
• Third, I cannot pick all the openers against Michigan.
• Fourth, it has to be a win.
• Fifth, the game has to be played after 1964, which I consider the start of the modern era.

#5 Northwestern Sept. 3, 1994 (Soldier Field, Chicago)

I was a junior in College, at tiny Beloit College (WI). After playing in our football intrasquad scrimmage early in the day, some teammates and I headed south to Chicago. This would be the second Notre Dame game in my life that I would attend in person. The Irish were ranked #3 and the long awaited start of the Ron Powlus era was set to begin in a game nationally televised by ABC. It could not have gone better. Powlus was 18-24 for 291 yards and 4 touchdowns as the Irish dismantled Northwestern, 42-15. The two Heismans appeared to be in the bag and every Saturday would look like this, although the rest of the story didn’t quite turn out this way. Nevertheless, on a day that provided so much optimism, it will always stick out to me.

#4 Maryland Aug. 31, 2002 (Meadowlands, NJ)

The start of the Tyrone Willingham era and other nationally televised game that I was in the stands for. Maryland would actually finish the season at 11-3 and destroy Tennessee in the Peach Bowl on their way to a Top 20 final ranking. On this day, the Irish used a smothering defense, five field goals from Nick Setta, a 76 yard punt return for a touchdown by Vontez Duff, and three interceptions from Shane Walton to handily dispatch the Terps. Notre Dame would ride this momentum to eight straight wins before their meltdown versus Boston College. Though the Irish would finish 10-3, it did little to convince the masses that Willingham was the guy.

#3 Michigan Sept. 5, 1998 (Notre Dame Stadium)

Michigan was coming off a national championship (Well…a share of one) and would finish the season 10-3. As I mentioned in a previous article, this was likely the signature win of the Bob Davie era. Notre Dame trailed 13-6 at the end of the first half, but would outscore Michigan 30-7 in the second half to win going away. In my mind this was Davie’s best team, but an injury to quarterback Jarious Jackson in Week 10 staggered the Irish to a 9-3 finish. It was the typical inconsistency that would plague the Davie era.

#2 Texas Sept. 5, 2015 (Notre Dame Stadium)

Some people…especially Notre Dame haters will chuckle at this one. Texas isn’t good anymore….blah, blah, blah. Texas is Texas! A hugely anticipated game as I felt the previous season Notre Dame had greatly underachieved given the talent they had. Brian Kelly helped feed the hype by suggesting the players go kick “Texas’s ass” on Showtime. This was a Saturday Night contest on NBC and the Irish did not disappoint. Malik Zaire lived up the hype as he hit on 19-22 for 313 yards and three touchdowns. The Irish defense also looked much improved and you couldn’t help but come away from this game thinking the Irish would make a serious run at the playoffs.

#1 Michigan Sept. 10, 1988 (Notre Dame Stadium)

Notre Dame was coming off a 1987 season that featured three losses to close the season. The last two versus Miami and Texas A&M were largely blowouts. Though the Irish appeared to be trending upward, the experts still predicted they were a “year away” from contending for a national championship. In a game that typified “What though the Odds,” the Irish used four field goals from walk-on kicker Reggie Ho, excellent defense, and a punt return touchdown from Ricky Watters to knock off the Wolverines. The game, which kicked off the last national championship at Notre Dame, was not decided until Michigan kicker Mike Gillette missed a 48-yard field goal with 3 seconds remaining.

The post Five Great Opening Games for ND Football appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Notre Dame Irish quarterback # 5 Terry Hanratty in action during the 1968 season. (USA Today Sports Images)

Ask 10 Notre Dame fans and you might get 10 different answers. Their opinion may be influenced by the player’s NFL performance or penalized for not living up to expectations.

I’ve developed a simple and easy formula to determine who was the greatest quarterback in Notre Dame history (minimum 10 starts).

I measure a quarterback by his completion percentage, his total yards, his yards per attempt, his touchdown percentage, his interception percentage and the number of fourth quarter comebacks. I also assign a bonus point for each national championship won or major bowl victory. (Sorry, fans. No points for a victory in the Ragu Tomato Sauce Bowl.)

This may be where there’s some controversy. I used who I felt was the greatest quarterback in each decade of Notre Dame football from 1960 to 2010 to develop a standard. I used Terry Hanratty (60s), Tom Clements (70s), Tony Rice (80s), Rick Mirer (90s) and Brady Quinn (00s).

You certainly could argue a different quarterback for each decade, but I believe it wouldn’t change the results significantly.

By averaging each player’s career, the following standard is developed:

Completion percentage: 55%
Yards: 2,051
Yards per attempt: 7.8
TD percentage: 4.9%
Interception percentage: 4.7%
4^th quarter comebacks: 3

Here’s how you complete the measurement. (No slide rule necessary!)

For yards, take a quarterback’s career yardage, average it and divide that average by 2,051. If their interception percentage is below 4.7, you add the difference to get their score to 4.7. If it over, you penalize the player by taking the different out of their final score.

AP Photo/Paul Sancya

I’ll show you how the formula works by using a player outside the Top 10. Some of you may recall Matt LoVecchio, a starter during the Bob Davie era. Matt came in and helped lead the Irish to a Fiesta Bowl berth, during which the Irish subsequently got pummeled. (This foreshadowed that Davie was probably better off at ESPN or at New Mexico.)

Here are LoVecchio’s numbers:
Completion percentage: 55%
Yards: 634
Yards per attempt: 6.5
TD percentage: 6.2%
INT percentage: 2.6%
4^th quarter comebacks: 0.

Remember to divide each of his numbers versus the standard and then add the totals together. Then to arrive at his final score, divide it by the number of categories (six).

Completion percentage: 1 (55/55)
Yards: .31 (634/2051)
Yards per attempt: .83 (6.5/7.8)
TD%: 1.27 (6.2 – 4.9)
INT%: .45 (1 – (2.6 / 4.7))
4^th Quarter comebacks: 0

Total score: 3.86
Matt LoVechhio Rating: 3.86 / 6 = 64

My baseline score is 100, so a 64 is a below average rating for a Notre Dame quarterback. I didn’t compile this project to highlight below average play to conjure up memories of the somewhat lean post-Holtz years.

So here are your Top 10 signal callers in Notre Dame history:

#10 John Huarte
Record as a starting QB: 9-2
Rating: 79

Huarte was a one-year wonder in Ara’s first year, guiding the Irish to a 9-1 mark and narrowly missing the National Championship. He went on to the win the Heisman.

#9 Joe Theismann
Record as a starting QB: 20-2-3
Rating: 83

One major bowl win to his credit and a somewhat high interception percentage keeps Joe further down in the ratings than some may agree with.

#8 Tony Rice
Record as a starting QB: 28-3
Rating: 95

Rice was the last quarterback to pilot the Irish to a national title. He also has a higher winning percentage than anyone on the list.

#7 Tom Clements
Record as a starting QB: 29-5
Rating: 100

Clements has a national championship and a major bowl victory to his credit, but not much in the way of passing numbers. Again, some may argue/question if his placement is too low.

#6 Jimmy Clausen
Record as a Starting QB: 14-17
Rating: 111

Only quarterback with a losing record on the list. Clausen has incredible passing numbers. To be fair, a leaky defense and questionable decision making by Charlie Weis probably cost him several wins.

#5 Brady Quinn
Record as Starting QB: 29-17
Rating: 111

I loved watching Brady Quinn play. Quinn has the most starts on this list, with standout signature moments against Michigan State and UCLA.

#4 Ron Powlus
Record as a Starting QB: 28-16-1
Rating: 113

Although much maligned by press and fans alike, numbers show that Powlus had a more than solid career. Detractors will point to his zero bowl wins. Powlus authored seven fourth quarter comebacks during his career at ND, the most on this list.

#3 Jarious Jackson
Record as a Starting QB: 14-9
Rating: 114

Excellent passing numbers and five fourth quarter comebacks place Jackson surprisingly into the Top 3.

#2 Joe Montana
Record as a Starting QB: 20-5
Rating: 127

Montana is the gold standard for starting quarterbacks at Notre Dame. A national championship, epic comebacks, bowl victories place Joe Cool near the top.

#1 Rick Mirer
Record as a Starting QB: 28-7-1
Rating: 137

The passing numbers combined with bowl victories place Mirer at the top. Some will point to his poor NFL career. For this list, it is irrelevant. (But he makes a pretty good bottle of wine!)

So you have your Top 10.

Some may argue that they don’t like the standard being used or with the results. What I’ve simply done here is use numbers to attempt to quantify rankings rather than anecdotal evidence or the blatherings of beer-fueled relatives at a summer cookout. I placed no bias into the rankings the numbers are the numbers. For what it’s worth, my childhood favorite Steve Beuerlein rates a 78 — sadly missing the list.

The post Who Was The Greatest Irish Signal Caller In Modern History? appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Q: After growing up in Southern California, how did you end up playing football at Notre Dame and not near home at USC or UCLA?

A: “Ever since I was six years old I had a dream to attend and play football at Notre Dame. Every Saturday morning I would sit and watch Fighting Irish football. I would be there for hours watching them play. Every time they scored, I scored. I would run around our apartment (Kory and his sister Koi were raised by their mother who was a single parent) and celebrate. The neighbors downstairs would come up every week and tell my mom, ‘Please get Kory to settle down!’”

Notre Dame typically brings its top recruits to campus during the weekend of the football banquet at the end of the season. Kory’s high school (Bishop Amat Memorial High School) was still playing in the California high school playoffs and he was unable to make his recruiting visit that weekend. Instead, Kory made his recruiting trip to Notre Dame in the middle of January. “It was freezing cold that weekend and there was a fair amount of snow on the ground.” The ND recruiters did the best that they could to shield Kory from experiencing the South Bend cold. “When I got to the airport I saw Coach Mike Turyovac and told him, ‘there is no way I am coming here, it’s too cold.’ And he told me, ‘no, no, no, just give us the weekend.’ They backed the van right up to the airport, opened the door and I went from inside the airport straight into the van; never touching the outside at all. In fact, I never even went outside until my hosts (Cliff Stroud, Renaldo Wynn and Shawn Wooden) took me out Friday night. The coaches and recruiters did their best the entire weekend to keep me as heated as possible.”

“My mom came with me on my recruiting trip and she was so excited about the opportunity that was in front of me. She was so gung ho about it. We were getting ready to be transported from the stadium to the academic advisors office when my Mom asked the recruiters if they could give us a minute and let us walk on our own. This was our come to Jesus moment. We are standing there, outside of touchdown Jesus, when my mom says, ‘you see that over there? I can buy you a winter coat, but I can’t buy you a Notre Dame education. I can’t afford this. Take advantage of this full ride opportunity that Notre Dame is offering you.’”

Kory committed that weekend.

That’s not to say that other schools didn’t try to lure Kory away from Notre Dame. USC, UCLA, Washington, Tennessee and Miami were all in heavy pursuit of Kory’s talents. “As a top recruit, there was a lot of pressure being put on me by many different colleges. Early on in the recruiting process the NCAA came to my house and spoke with me about what I could and couldn’t do during the recruiting process. That is very intimidating for a young man.”

“Cliff Stroud was my host for my recruiting trip. Notre Dame was my fourth recruiting trip. I had one more trip planned after Notre Dame (UCLA) but I cancelled it after my weekend at Notre Dame. For the record, Notre Dame was my strangest recruiting trip. Renaldo Wynn and Shawn Wooden took me out and their car broke down. It was negative 800 degrees and snowing and here I was outside helping change the tire. But I realized the opportunity that had been placed in front of me and I took it.”

“My first year at Notre Dame, I must have talked to my mom four times a day. At one point I broke down and told her I wanted to come home. Her response? ‘I bought you a jacket, suck it up.’”

Q: I understand that all of your dorm mates at ND were non-athletes. Did you like that? Would you do that again?

A: “I wanted to experience people I didn’t normally deal with all of the time.  My best friend on the football team was Jamie Spencer, and he and I were inseparable through weights, training tables, and practice. But when we weren’t doing football I wanted to live with people who didn’t play sports, who were just average guys. I wanted some of that to rub off on me. I wanted to be around people who I could appreciate, who I could learn from and who could make me a better person.”

Q: Do you think starting players as freshman is a good thing or a bad thing?

Stay tuned for more in the “Where are they now?” series!

A: “I think that decision is up to the coaches and the players. If a player can perform on the field AND in the classroom academically, then they should play regardless of whether they are a freshman or not. You want to play the best 11 guys in every situation. Why make a guy wait to play if he can help the team today? When I went to visit the University of Washington, they were pretty deep at the linebacker spot and made it very clear to me that while I had the potential to be great I probably wouldn’t start right away. But my feeling was if I could beat everyone out I should play right away. When I got to ND I was told that if I progressed, I would play. That helped me make my decision.”

“As I was getting ready to start my first game as a freshman, I was sitting at my locker thinking, ‘oh my God, I have arrived.’ Robert Farmer came over to my locker and says, ‘Kory, are you starting?’ and I replied, ‘yes.’ Robert said to me, ‘if you’re starting, you’re starting for a reason, because you deserve it.’ He may not have known it at the time, but what Robert said to me made a huge impact on me. It changed my whole thought process. It helped me regain focus and took away my jitters. Those few simple words were huge for me.”

Q: What is your best Notre Dame football memory?

A: “Off the field, my favorite football memory was my Mom speaking at the Friday night pep rally before my final home game against Louisiana State (LSU). She walked to the podium and surprised me and the filled to the brim Joyce Center crowd with a moving `thank you’ to the Notre Dame community for taking care of me during my four year stay at the University.” Kory sat there in the first row of players’ seats, with tears of pride streaming down his face as he carefully listened in appreciation of the moment he was experiencing. That night his collegiate journey was nearly complete.

“On the field, my favorite memory took place in a game against Ohio State my sophomore year. I was on a blitz from the left side (the press box side). It was a perfect call. I got to the QB Stanley Jackson, had him by the neck and knocked him down. It brought a fourth down for the Buckeyes. We got off the field to punt and I could hear the whole stadium chanting, ‘Kory! Minor!’ about six or seven times. It gave me chills. It was an insane moment. I can’t even put the feeling into words of hearing the WHOLE stadium cheer your name. Absolutely unforgettable.”

Q: What was it like playing for Lou Holtz? Bob Davie? 

A: “It is impossible to compare Coach Holtz to Coach Davie. You’re talking about a hall of fame coach in Lou Holtz. He had so many principles that he shared with us that we could apply to our lives. When he came to my house to recruit me, he told my mom, ‘your son will leave you a boy and you will get him back a man.’ He had great leadership qualities both on and off the field. His nurturing way, his commitment to excellence, his values … he is one of a kind. Holtz and Davie coached in entirely different ways“

Q: How do you remember your NFL draft? 

A: “My NFL draft was absolutely horrendous. I shouldn’t have watched the draft. In my house, we always had a draft party every year, with pancakes, steak and eggs — it was a huge deal for us. But my draft day was rough. It was a tremendously humbling experience going in the 7th round. It made me work hard, focus, and even more determined to be successful. There were people who went ahead of me that I thought should not have gone ahead of me, but the pain of going the second day really made me the person I became. It developed a great deal of character in me. I was the no. 2 ranked outside linebacker in the country going into the draft, was a starter all four years, and a starter as a true freshman. How did I not get drafted higher than the 7th round?”

Q: What was it like playing in the NFL? 

A: “I played for four years in the NFL. I was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers and then went on to play for the Carolina Panthers from 1999-2002. The game didn’t tell me to go, but when they wanted to trade me to Cleveland, I didn’t want to go. It was time for me to use that degree I earned from Notre Dame.”

“The highs of playing in the NFL? Most definitely playing with such high caliber athletes. Getting to play with Jerry Rice and Steve Young at the 49ers was tremendous. The men that I played with in the NFL were awesome. Those game day experiences, you can’t make those up. I will never forget that. The camaraderie that we had in the locker room was what kept you going week after week.”

“The highlight of my NFL career? Without a doubt, the big hit I made on Monday Night Football against the Green Bay Packers.”

“The lows?  The entire 2001 season. We started off the season on the road at Minnesota and dominated them that game winning by a score of 24-13, and then we went on to lose the rest of the games that season. Finishing the season 1-15, that was rough.”

Q: What was your biggest challenge as a Notre Dame student-athlete? How did Notre Dame prepare you for life after college?

A: “My biggest challenge was realizing that I could compete in the classroom with all of the brainiacs at ND. I had a 3.5 grade point average as a student in high school but when you get to Notre Dame it’s a whole different level. I knew I could compete on the field, but I never thought I’d be able to compete off of it. I remember on my first day in class a guy raised his hand and asked a question and all I could think was ‘what did he just say?’ At that point I was not sure if I’d make it. I didn’t understand what one of my peers just said, how could I compete with him in the classroom? I called my mom and said, ‘It’s going to be a long four years.’”

“Then I realized that my education was all about my mental state. If I could compete and be successful on the football field, then I needed to believe that I could do it in the classroom as well. I learned time management and how to balance football with my studies. Once I did that, I became the student my mom always knew I could be.”

“Notre Dame helped me learn how to network and meet people. It helped me to become a man. You left your home, were on your own and were responsible for getting up each day, going to class and football practice, getting your work done; you didn’t have anyone telling you what to do. My time at Notre Dame even helped me to become a better Christian. It gave me the framework and mindset to be my best in whatever I did.”

Q: Where did life take you after football?

A: “I’ve always been told if you can master two skills you can do anything. One, how to sell yourself; and two, how to market yourself. My first career path after the NFL was working for an insurance company, Northwestern Mutual Life, in North Carolina, doing sales and client services. I did that for a couple years and got really good at it. I became okay with hearing the word ‘no,’ and worked in partnership with my wife. Eventually, we decided we wanted to move back to California and the Northwestern Mutual Life office in Los Angeles was too long of a commute for us, so it was time to do something else.”

“I went to see Coach Holtz and his wife in South Carolina, I told him my wife and I wanted to move back to California, and that I was looking for a new job opportunity. He recommended me for a sales position working for this wine company, E & J Gallo Wines, and I did sales for Gallo for three years. By this time I had been bitten by the entrepreneur bug big time and wanted to start my own business.”

“From Gallo wine I transitioned into the pizza business. I started as a general manager with Dominos for six months after which I became eligible to buy my own store. I went on to develop my franchise business operating five Dominos Pizza locations and employing over 80 workers. I did this until 2012.”

Q: Can you tell me about your new book? And how you came to write a book?

A: “In 2012, I founded my company, Kory Minor Industries, a personal development and training company to get people (both individuals and organizations) ‘off the sideline and into the game,’ with a focus on winning every day. I do a lot of sales training and keynote speaking, I coach people in their personal lives and/or in their businesses/careers and I love what I have been able to do in this personal development space.”

Kory is the Founder and CEO of Kory Minor Industries (KMI) which is a training and development company for individuals and organizations specializing in helping clients to Get Off The Sideline And Get Into The Game, by fostering the concept of WINNING every day.

“I had wanted to write a book for a while and I had compiled all of these notes and I decided I could really help people.  I wanted to keep it football themed and that’s how I came up with the title of ‘Make A Touchdown Out Of Your Life.’ I wanted to share my story, things that I did, what I overcame. I believe everyone has greatness inside of them. Most people just don’t know how to pursue it. So many people have amazing talents; they just don’t know how to apply them. And that’s what the book came to be: me giving people the tools they need to win, to give them confidence.”

“The thing about me is that I’m just really ‘real.’ One of my coaches told me I was just too darn humble, that I never tell anyone about what I’ve accomplished unless I am asked. I do this because I want people to like me for me, and then they can find out about the rest of me later. With my new company and the book I’m trying to open up a little bit more about my accomplishments.”

Q: What advice would you give current student athletes?

A: “One: Be yourself … don’t try to be anyone else.”

“Two: Embrace the moment. You’re only in college for four or five years, live in it every day because eventually it will be over.”

“Three: The personal high that you get will never be as big as it is in those four years of college so embrace it. Network, connect with alumni, your fellow students, and don’t be afraid to network and use your name and what you’ve done to make connections.”

“Four: Enjoy the journey. It’s going to be four or five years that are going to go by so fast. Live in it, embrace it, and most of all find a way, every day, to make someone else’s life that you come into contact with better.”

Q: Can you talk about your involvement with Play Like a Champion Today?

“Working with Coaches & Sport Leaders to Shape a Positive Sports Culture for All Young People.”

A: “I absolutely love what Play Like a Champion Today is doing. They are teaching people to respect the game, whether you are a parent, player, coach or referee; respect the game. I came aboard with the foundation five years ago, and I’ve been helping out with camps all over the country. The next one is in September. I was just at Notre Dame in June for their annual meetings, and their message is something I feel very passionate about. The game of sports is life. Be accountable to your team first and not yourself, in order to develop better character. “

Kory currently lives in California with his wife Lisa, and their three children, Ilyana (8 years old), Noah (6 years old) and Julian (3 years old). You can find out more about Kory on his web site www.koryminor.com, and on Facebook and Twitter.

I’d like to give a big thank you to Kory for stopping by the blog. It was an absolute pleasure to walk through his journey with him. Stay tuned for many more great stories in the “Where are they now?” series! If you enjoy this series, you can also read more stories in my new book, “Echoes From the End Zone: The Men We Became” available for purchase on August 1st.

Cheers!

The post Where Are They Now? Kory Minor appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Q: What made you go to Notre Dame?

Bobby Brown, always displaying his Notre Dame pride.

A: I took visits to Michigan, Boston College and Notre Dame, and also had “unofficial visits” to Miami, Florida State and Florida because they were right in my backyard. Coach (Lou) Holtz was very instrumental in my decision to attend Notre Dame. Another key factor was Notre Dame’s exceptional graduation rate. I was very interested in a school that could give me opportunities in both athletics and academics, and Notre Dame was the perfect combination. The guys that hosted me during my visit to Notre Dame were Allen Rossum and Ivory Covington. The three of us hit it off right from the beginning.

Being that I was from Florida, I had no idea how cold it would get at Notre Dame. I lived under the impression that everywhere was warm and sunny like Florida. Before I made my official visit, they advised me that I needed to pack a warm jacket. On that trip I was cold the entire time, but
everything else that I experienced that weekend outweighed the cold. I knew it was exactly where I needed to be. I called my mom my first night and told her that I changed my mind.

The other person that had a big role in my decision to go to Notre Dame was Shawn Wooden. He made me feel so comfortable that weekend. He was going to be a fifth-year senior, yet he was hanging out with the freshmen and the recruits. That left a big impression on me.

Irv Smith always says that he was the recruiting guru of his class … well I was that guy in my class. Every big recruit that they gave me to entertain on their recruiting weekend I got, but one (Laveranues Coles). That was what we did.

Q: During the 1999 Notre Dame-Michigan game in 1999 you got an excessive celebration penalty for imitating a moose? Please explain!

Bobby Brown and his older brother displaying the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity sign.

A: In the final minutes of the game I made what could have been the game-winning catch, only to flagged for “excessive celebration” after the play. The referee said that I had taunted the fans by making “Mickey Mouse” ears/imitating a moose. The fifteen yard penalty was enforced on the kickoff so it changed field position and put the defense in a tough situation to stop a shorter drive.

What really happened? The 1999 football season was my fifth year of eligibility. One of the reasons that I was originally considering NOT attending Notre Dame was because they did not have any fraternities and I really wanted to join this national black fraternity (Omega Psi Phi). But once I found out there were other avenues to join the fraternity while still attending Notre Dame, then it was an easy decision for me to go to Notre Dame. During the spring of my fourth year at Notre Dame, I started a process that would eventually lead to me being a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. During this Notre Dame–Michigan game my big brother happened to be in the end zone where I caught that pass, and not only is he also a member of the same fraternity, he has always been my role model. After making what I thought was a game-winning catch, right in front of my brother, I did what was natural to me. I threw up a sign that is closely associated with my fraternity. I had only planned on doing it once that year, the first time I got into the end zone, and this was it. It was a salute to my fraternity brothers around the country. It was quick and I thought it was harmless. Unfortunately, it happened to be mistaken as me imitating a moose or making Mickey Mouse ears to the fans, and it was considered taunting, and he threw the flag.

It was tough having to come back to the sideline…to watch Michigan’s David Terrell on the go-ahead drive, making taunts at the fans and not getting called. My excessive celebration penalty was definitely a home official call. Only in the Big House. Getting blamed for a loss at 21 years (old) really messes with your sleep at night. No matter how passionate the fans are, the players are still human beings. God only gives you as much as you can handle and as a fifth-year senior, I was definitely able to handle this. If it would have happened to a freshman, it could have destroyed their confidence and their collegiate career. I am happy that it happened to me instead of one of the younger players. I have, over the years, used that experience to push myself to be a better person. Making light of what was once a very tense situation, I even named my entertainment company Excessive Celebration. I have been able to take the negative and make it into a positive.

Bobby Brown and Jerome Bettis at an Excessive Celebration event at the House of Blues, Chicago.

The head official wrote me a letter a few weeks later that same season apologizing to me. He had no idea that what I was doing was connected to a historic and positive organization. I’m sure lots of people had no idea what I was doing. So by bringing it to people’s attention what I was really doing, it opened up a dialogue that might not have otherwise happened. That fact is another silver lining that I have come to appreciate over the years.

There was one fan that kept writing me letters about my moose sign. Another one who claimed it was a gang sign. The Omega Psi Phi fraternity was founded in 1911. It has many prestigious members including Bill Cosby, Michael Jordan, Ronald McNair and Jesse Jackson among many others, but so many people are unaware of it. I took this situation as an opportunity to promote the values of the fraternity. I grew up in a household where my father was not around for a period of time and several “Omega men” were instrumental in making sure that did not turn me into a negative statistic. It was important for me to support and represent my fraternity in a positive way whenever the opportunity presented itself.

I’m now writing a book and the foundation of the book is the excessive celebration penalty, but it discusses the ways that sports allow cultures to collide that would not otherwise cross paths. The occasions that I remember first interacting with diverse groups of people outside my neighborhood were all sports-related: at a track meet, football game or a basketball tournament.

In the book I talk about a bunch of interesting things like the “black table” in the lunch room at Notre Dame. It was not an intentional thing that we did, it was just something that happened without us even realizing it. There were so few minorities at Notre Dame, and so naturally you just all kind of ended up at a table together in the dining hall. My roommate freshman year asked me one day, “Why do you always sit at the black table in the dining hall? We always walk in together and then you go sit at that table instead of eating with us (the roommates). Why?” Before he said that, I had never really thought about it like that. But that is exactly what I did. After he said that to me, I really took notice of things like that.

Q: What is your best Notre Dame football memory?

A: Coach Holtz’s last game. During my time at Notre Dame I was a part of many monumental games. We beat LSU on the road. We beat Michigan right after they had won the national championship. Of course, every game at Notre Dame is a big game. I also had some huge and memorable catches like the game-winner against West Virginia. But being a part of Coach Holtz’s last game at Notre Dame Stadium was very special to me. To be able to share that with him, to be able to contribute to such a big win, is something I will never forget.

I will say our road win over LSU was pretty memorable as well. When we got off the bus at LSU, they made a human gauntlet. There were 90-year-old women with no teeth throwing up their middle finger and calling us Tiger bait. Very aggressive fans. It was a pretty intimidating experience, but we knew we could win.

Q: What was your biggest challenge at Notre Dame?

A: My fifth year at Notre Dame was remarkable in my overall growth and development. I had a significant leadership role and I was respected by my peers. But when you are 5-6 going into the last game of the season, things start to snowball and people start to point fingers. There was this skeleton in the locker room that the trainers used for demonstrations. Joey Getherall, a younger wide receiver who was only a sophomore at the time, dressed the skeleton up in my practice uniform and my shades. When I walked in and saw it, I was just crying in laughter. At the end of the day none of us wanted to lose, none of us wanted to quit, it was just one of those things. You learn from it and move on. A big part of personal growth is how you perceive yourself and how you respond to challenges. It was an important year for me despite the win-loss record.

Q: How do you remember your NFL draft?

Next week on “Where are they now?” a former Notre Dame quarterback you will not want to miss!

A: During my last year at Notre Dame the “experts” said I should have left after the previous year.
Notre Dame’s record during my fifth year was 5-7. Six of our seven losses came down to the last possession of the game; we were plagued with time mismanagement, penalties, turnovers and other mishaps. Unfortunately, NFL teams are not very creative. They scout people in very traditional ways and tend to favor players from teams that are winning. To a certain extent, I felt teams never really took a meaningful look at me because I was not a workout warrior and our team had a bad record. As a result, teams just passed me by in the draft.

Jarious Jackson was the only one who got drafted from Notre Dame that year, and he didn’t get picked until the seventh round.

After the draft ended I started getting a lot of phone calls from various teams. I ended up getting picked up by Green Bay as a free agent and had my chance to show what I can do. It was definitely tough. How you get into the NFL, either via the draft or free agency, determines the opportunities that you receive. It determines how many reps you get, whether or not you get to start … how many chances you get. It’s a business. When I look back at it now, I went into their camp and they had about 17 receivers and three of those were rookies they had drafted. But those odds never crossed my mind. All I could think of was, where am I going to live because I am going to make this team.

Q: What were the highs and lows of NFL?

A: The highs definitely included meeting some great people. The coaches trusted me right away. I came from nowhere according to the scouts and the rankings, but they knew that I could play. It’s the internal reporting that’s far more important. When you get the nod of approval from veterans that have been there for a while, that is what you want. It was a huge accomplishment for me to be able to make it at that level and overcome odds that were so huge as an undrafted free agent.

Post football, I see that very few guys actually get to do productive things with their careers. In order to make it at the NFL level you have to be able to overcome not only physical challenges, but psychological and emotional ones as well. So many guys don’t take the determination that they have on the field and apply it to the business side of the NFL. So many players got chewed up and spit out like meat. So many talented guys never achieve their potential off-the-field and post-football. That sad reality is one of the lows of the NFL.

Q: You played under both Coach Holtz and Coach Davie. Explain the differences between the two coaches.

A: The difference between Coach Holtz and Coach Davie? Night and day.

Bobby Brown sprints Saturday April 18, 2009 at LaBar field at the University of Notre Dame for the legends team preparing for the upcoming Japan Bowl (Irish Illustrated Photo)

I am, however, very happy to see Coach Davie is back in coaching. I think his heart is really in it, and he needs to get back out there and show the world what he’s got. Notre Dame was just not a good fit for him at that time, but he is a great x’s and o’s coach.

It is difficult for me to compare the two coaches, though, because as far as I am concerned Coach Holtz was the best of the best. He was the main reason I chose Notre Dame. He is a legend.

I think if Coach Davie had the chance to do it over, he would probably take a few more pages from Coach Holtz’s playbook in terms of how to be a head coach. He was young and ambitious and wanted to do it his own way, and you have to respect that, but I really liked Coach Holtz’s style of coaching and playing under Coach Davie was a big challenge for me.

People always ask me, was Coach Holtz really that mean? He demanded the absolute best out of everyone, and that can come across as mean, but he asked more of you than you could ever have asked of yourself. In doing that, he was changing the level of expectation you had for yourself.

He knew how to build you up as well as break you down. He had a special way to treat each player because he took to time to get to know what made you tick. He knew who to push and how hard to push, but he also knew when you needed a hug and to be built up. It was a constant roller coaster, but he was great at what at he did.

I think he practices his pep talks at night. There is no way someone can say the witty things that he does without practicing. He is a brilliant man. Even when he’s being condescending and making you feel like a gnat he does it in a brilliantly witty way.

Q: Where did life take you after football?

Bobby Brown and his mother, Bettye Brown, at Notre Dame Law School graduation.

A: That transition was interesting for me. After I played for the Green Bay Packers and then the Cleveland Browns, the Browns wanted to send me to NFL Europe going into what would have been my third year. I told Coach Butch Davis thank you but no thank you, much to some of my family member’s dismay, because at that point I was ready to move on and pursue other things. Coach Davis looked at me like I had eight heads! The odds were really not in my favor that going to NFL Europe would result in making the team. It would have been an additional, mini-season right before starting training camp, the most grueling physical and psychological experience imaginable. I reasoned that the NFL is a short window of opportunity, whether you want to believe that or not. It wasn’t a very popular decision with some of my family and friends, but my brother understood it and gave me his blessing. (He was my agent.) I turned the page and went to law school at Notre Dame, and then business school at Yale. I was going to do them both at Notre Dame, but my mother got sick and I ended up taking some time off to work full-time at a law firm between the two degrees.

While I was working at MF Global, which was my first job out of Yale Business School, the company ended up going bankrupt, so once again I was back to the drawing board. Shortly after MF Global went bankrupt, my mother passed away after a long battle with Cancer. I look at those few months as the absolute low point of my life. Losing a job to an unexpected bankruptcy was one thing, but losing my hero and my best friend (my mother) was an entirely new level of disappointment. To make the situation even more hectic, my second son was born in a NJ hospital the day before my mom passed away in a Florida hospital. Flying back and forth, I got to witness both life-changing moments. (We named our newborn Thatcher Annson because my mom’s middle name was Ann). Ironically, I think my roller coaster experience in the NFL prepared me for this roller coaster period in my life and so I quickly got back on my feet.

Brown Brothers Management client, Chad Faulcon and Bobby Brown.

During my time at MF Global I had I started doing public speaking, got my NFL agent license and was representing two guys in the NFL draft. I started the agent business with my older brother. Before my mom passed away, she got to see us start the business together. I can recall one night my brother and I were about to drive up to Jacksonville, Florida to present to a potential client. We left the printed materials on the kitchen table before we left and my mom picked it up and started reading it. When we walked into the room she was smiling from ear to ear as she was beaming with pride. She was so pleased that her two boys had joined forces to build something from the ground up. After she read the materials from cover to cover, she told us that she was just as pleased to see our business model consisted of helping, educating and providing off-the-field opportunities for clients. I will never forget her smile when we walked into the room and that memory has helped my brother and I fight through some tough, early stage days in the business.

I like helping NFL players, sharing with them the pitfalls of the NFL and helping them to avoid them. Some agents only focus on the here and now, but we try to help them start from day one preparing for their eventual transition from the NFL to the next chapter of their life. It’s disappointing to me that so many guys don’t have a successful life after football. Because I had Mrs. Bettye Brown, my mother, in my ear always telling me “use the game, don’t let it use you”, I was always prepared for the transition. We try to share our mother’s philosophy with each client.

My mother was an educator for over 40 years in the Broward County School System. With the help of all my siblings, we started the Bettye W. Brown Scholarship Fund to provide financial assistance for a select Broward County public school graduate pursuing their dream of higher education. Continuing my mother’s legacy through the scholarship fund means more to me than any athletic, academic or professional accomplishment that I have ever had. Eventually I will probably try to get back onto Wall Street again. But for now my law practice, speaking engagements and agent duties are all keeping me busy. I know my mother is looking down on us with that same beaming, proud smile because she likes seeing us work together and helping other people.

Find your passion and the rest will come.

I am also still very involved with Notre Dame. While I was in law school, I served on the NCAA Faculty Board and the university’s Council on Diversity. I was also a two term president of the Black Law Students Association and an active member of the Business Law Society. I am currently on the Notre Dame Law Advisory Council, Black Alumni board and Diversity Council.

Q: What is your favorite Lou Holtz memory?

Oct 4, 1997: Notre Dame wide receiver Bobby Brown catches the ball as Stanford defensive back Corey Hill hits him during a game at Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto, California. Stanford won the game, 33-15. (Otto Greule /Allsport)

A: When Lou Holtz had his first meeting with my freshman class, we thought we were pretty hot (stuff). We were the consensus No. 1 recruiting class that year. The freshmen and the coaches who recruited us were all sitting in this big meeting room waiting for Coach Holtz. As we are sitting there waiting we are all talking, bragging about all of the things that we accomplished in high school, and the buzz is getting louder and louder. When Coach Holtz walks in the noise quiets down some, but apparently not as much as he had expected. Coach Holtz says, “I’m going to walk out of this room, and when I walk back in, you’re going to be sitting quietly with your shoulders back, heads up tall, and your hands on your knees.” I didn’t even know I possessed that kind of posture. But he said it with such conviction that we all knew that we had to sitting perfectly and quietly when he came back in.

When the upperclassmen came in a few days later, he walked into the room and they did it automatically. We were all in awe at the respect that he demanded … and received. Just like that.

Every year there is one player who has the classic Coach Holtz accent, who is the token Coach Holtz impersonator. That was me. At the end of the season the freshman put on the skits at the bowl game. I got to do the Holtz impersonation at the Orange Bowl and I was so nervous that Holtz would see it.

In my best Lou Holtz accent, talking about me: “When I recruited you from Florida, they said you were fast. Your film must have been in fast forward, I don’t see speed. Can you hit fast forward please!”

Q: If you were on a desert island and could only take one person or group’s music with you, what would it be?

A: I’m taking Outkast. I think their sound is ageless and their creativity is truly innovative. Yes, they are in the rap genre, but their vibe is a combination of other music genres as well. Outkast is simply two guys who started making music together in high school and continued to develop great music. Hearing Outkast reminds me of friendships with high school and college teammates. Outkast was popular in the mid-90s when I was transitioning from high school to college. I look back on those days very fondly … like my best friend and I who have been linked at the hip since we were 15 playing high school football.

I’d like to thank Bobby Brown for graciously taking some time out of his busy schedule to stop by the blog. We all greatly appreciate it! Next week I feature a former Notre Dame quarterback who has stories that you do not want to miss!

Cheers!

The post Where Are They Now? Bobby Brown appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.