Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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4 NOV. 5, 2018 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED N otre Dame football great Tim Grunhard isn't in any particular hurry to add another branch to what is already a healthy family tree of Notre Dame athletes he and his wife, Sarah, share. But the former Irish All-American offensive guard still finds it funny to speculate about what might happen 20 or so years from now. See, Tim and Sarah Grunhard — formerly Sarah Harrington — re- cently added another branch when their daughter, Cailey, competed well enough in her first swimming season at Notre Dame to become a fourth- generation Irish monogram winner from Grunhard-Harrington lineage. The family's remarkable history looks like this: Tim and Sarah met as classmates at Notre Dame in the 1980s. Sarah's father, Jim Harrington, was an All-American Irish pole vaulter in 1954. Before that, Sarah's grandfather, Paul Harrington, was also a pole vaulter at Notre Dame in 1926 under then Irish track coach Knute Rockne. Paul Harrington later became a world record holder in the event. That brings us to Tim Grunhard, who started for the 1988 Notre Dame national champs and graduated in 1990 before enjoying an 11-year NFL career with the Kansas City Chiefs. And then there's Cailey, a gifted backstroke and butterfly swimmer, who won multiple events last school year during her rookie season. But that's not all. Cailey's twin brother Colin is a sophomore walk-on for the Notre Dame football team. He has already earned spot playing time this season and a place on the Irish travel roster. Older brother CJ Grunhard, a se- nior finance major at Notre Dame, has a job waiting for him upon grad- uation at the global agricultural firm Louis Dreyfus. And finally, Cassie Grunhard is a freshman at Saint Louis University, studying nursing while competing on the Billikins swim team. So, with four college-aged chil- dren, might a fifth-generation Notre Dame monogram winner be on the way someday? "Let's not rush things," Tim Grun- hard joked. "But if any family is go- ing to do it, it's going to be the Grun- hard-Harrington family that has put together such a legacy at Notre Dame." Tim and Colin Grunhard are one of seven father-son legacies on this year's Irish football team. All agree that sharing similar expe- riences from different eras provides a unique generational bond that stretches beyond game days. "The academics, the athletics, the history, the tradition," Colin ex- plained of why he chose to walk on at Notre Dame instead of accepting a scholarship to a military academy or an Ivy League school. "Also, my family is very intertwined into the university, so that played a huge role in me coming here." As did a chance to make a mark on this Irish team, Colin said, even when walk-ons aren't necessarily expected to, or celebrated when they do. "I give Colin so much credit," one proud Papa said. "Because he had the audacity to walk on to a team he knew that his father was an All- American on. He wasn't going to let that kind of shadow eat him up." Ask Tim Grunhard what makes him proudest of his son, and he im- mediately jumps to this past offsea- son when eventual team captain Alex Bars drafted Colin first for an offsea- son workout group. These veteran-managed squads work together, but compete against each other in everything from community service and academic achievement to workout reps and a tidy locker space. "Even if you're not playing on the field, and scoring the touchdowns, or making the big sack," Tim Grunhard said, "these other assets can really affect the team." ✦ Remember The Name, If You Don't Already UPON FURTHER REVIEW TODD D. BURLAGE Todd D. Burlage has been a writer for Blue & Gold Illustrated since July 2005. He can be reached at tburlage@blueandgold.com Tim and Colin Grunhard are one of seven father-son legacies on this year's football team. Their family of Irish monogram winners now spans four generations. PHOTO COURTESY GRUNHARD FAMILY 2018 Legacy Tree The 2018 Notre Dame team features seven father-son legacy combinations. Alex Bars • 5th-Sr., OL Father: Joe Bars (1981-84) was a linebacker and part of the first recruiting class of former Irish head coach Gerry Faust. Keenan Sweeney • 5th-Sr., FB Father: John Sweeney (1979-82) was a full- back that now serves as the Surgeon-in-Chief at Emory University School of Medicine in Georgia. Logan Plantz • Sr., OL Father: Ron Plantz (1982-85) played of- fensive guard at Notre Dame and then three games with the Chicago Bears in 1987. Devyn Spruell • Sr., LB Father: Byron Spruell (1984-87) became an Irish co-captain and is in his third season as the NBA's president of league operations. Colin Grunhard • So., OL Father: Tim Grunhard (1986-89) started at offensive guard on the 1988 Fighting Irish na- tional championship team. JD Carney • So., QB Father: John Carney (1983-86) ranks as the second most accurate kicker at Notre Dame and is the fifth-leading scorer in NFL history. Marcus Thorne • Fr., DB Father: Marcus Thorne (1993-95) walked on and played linebacker and fullback.