Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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Under the Dome him down until he has some further testing." He continued to attend classes at Notre Dame while going through speech therapy and other tests in November to make sure he was healthy enough for surgery. Bryan Hegarty said his son is able to do light workouts now and will go through a series of tests in early March to see if he is healthy enough for contact. There's still a chance Hegarty's football career is over, but his family is very optimistic that his return is a matter of when not if. "We're working off the premise that it's higher than 50 percent and he's going to be ready for spring when they start to hit," Bryan Hegarty said. "He might be late a week or two from hitting. Or, if it's not better than 50 percent for that, he'll definitely be back for regular football later." Doctors said the surgery should add up to 20 percent more oxygen to Matt's blood and make it easier for him to breathe during exercise. He's hoping that the traumatic injury will eventually make him a better player. Notre Dame's top two centers — Braxston Cave and Mike Golic Jr. — are out of eligibility. Hegarty's return would be a major boost to the Irish depth chart on the offensive line. Hegarty's father said Matt is still balancing concerns about getting back in time to make an impact on the team next fall and dealing with the trauma of the event. When Hegarty couldn't speak on the practice field he went to the training room and tried to write down his symptoms (which didn't include numbness or other typical telltale signs of a stroke) and found he couldn't get the thoughts from his head on to the paper. "He started getting frustrated [with the slow rehab process] after he understood he wasn't going to die," Hegarty said. Hegarty's spirits were boosted when Cave told him about former All-Pro linebacker Tedy Bruschi, who had a more serious stroke and eventually returned to the field. Hegarty bought Bruschi's biogra- phy, Never Give Up, and is currently reading it to help him through the rehab process. "That was huge for Matt," Bryan Hegarty said. The younger Hegarty flew to Miami to be with his team two days before the BCS National Championship Game. Any major jolts of physical contact in the immediate future could harm the patches on his heart and cause major setbacks, but the outlook for his return to football is much higher than it was in early November. — Dan Murphy ✦ Gimme Five After finishing No. 2 for the 2010 college football season in Forbes' annual "Most Valuable Teams" survey, Notre Dame dropped one spot in 2011. Michigan moved ahead of the Fighting Irish on the strength of playing eight home games, whereas Notre Dame played only six (with an off-site "home" game against Maryland near the Washington, D.C., area). That eighth game alone generated more than $6 million for Michigan's football coffers, and enabled U-M to nudge ahead by $2 million in current value. Meanwhile, Notre Dame played one fewer home game last year and consequently saw its value dip from $112 million to $103 million. Wrote Forbes: "While the team is down in [2011] valuations, we expect an undefeated season and title game appearance — worth a unique $6.2 million BCS payout to Notre Dame — will have the Irish fighting back toward the top next year." Here is the top five from the 2011-12 survey, as released in December 2012: FBRevenue FB Profit Team/Current Value 1. Texas/$133 million $104 million $78 million 2. Michigan/$105 million $85 million $62 million 3. Notre Dame/$103 million $69 million $43 million 4. LSU//$102 million $69 million $45 million 5. Georgia/$99 million $75 million $52 million