Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/102697
1971 LSU captain and All-American defensive back Tommy Casanova, who apologized personally to him for the ugly verbal taunting from the stands toward Notre Dame's black players in the '71 contest. The Good Teammate The following year, sophomore Clements — who could not be with the varsity in 1971 because it was the last year the NCAA did not permit freshman eligibility — beat out Brown for the starting position by the opener. Clements had his own share of growing pains as a sophomore when the Irish again finished out of the top 10 with an 8-3 mark. This included the 40‑6 Orange Bowl loss to Nebraska in which Clements was 9-of-22 passing with three interceptions. However, Clements displayed more consistency and he became the future of the program. The staff remained confident in Brown as an ideal insurance policy at quarterback — virtually identical to the 2012 campaign with Golson moving ahead of the incumbent Tommy Rees. Like Rees, Brown also won the respect of his teammates for the way he handled the demotion and worked in unison with Clements. "Nobody likes to get beat out, but he took it well," Pomarico said. "I remember talking with Tom Pagna about it and how he said it could have been an explosive thing. He could have started some problems in the locker room and caused dissension by saying things like, 'They're not playing me because I'm black,' and it could have been sticky in that time. "But he supported the decision as being best for the team and always took the high road." Pagna would later say, "Cliff made more personal development from 1971 on than any player I've ever coached." Brown finished his career with a national title while working behind Clements in 1973. He played in seven games that season, passing for 228 yards and three touchdowns (Clements had 882 and eight, respectively, in the run-oriented attack), and rushing for 134 yards and two scores. Brown was drafted as an "athlete" by the Philadelphia Eagles, but never ended up playing in the NFL. Clements wasn't even drafted, but had a brilliant career in the CFL. It wasn't until 1987 that another black quarterback lined up for Notre Dame, and Tony Rice (1987-89) would direct a school-record 23 straight victories and the 1988 national title. Senior Kevin McDougal nearly engineered another title in 1993 while becoming the all-time passing efficiency king in Notre Dame history. From 1997-2003, Jarious Jackson (1997‑99), Arnaz Battle (first two games of 2000 before getting injured) and Carlyle Holiday (2001-03) all took the throttle at Notre Dame as quarterbacks, with Jackson breaking Theismann's 29year single-season record for passing yardage in 1999. This year, Golson joined Theismann and Jackson as the only three Irish quarterbacks to pass for at least 2,000 yards and run for at least 300 during the regular season. The game, and attitudes, have changed much since Brown's era. ✦