Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2019 Notre Dame Football Preview
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70 ✦ BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2019 FOOTBALL PREVIEW Finke relishes the flattery, and figures why not? Finke's improvement has been steady, and his impact has been wide as a reliable return man on punts, and arguably the most clutch receiver on the Irish last season. Almost two- thirds of Finke's 49 receptions in 2018 went for a first down. "He's probably the most disrespected player on the team," Kelly said when asked to summarize Finke's game. "I told the staff he needs to get more reps. Then he got more reps — and he made more plays. "So, yeah, just a kid that the more he touches the ball, he continues to make more plays." Tragic Motivation Tattooed in cursive letters around his bulg- ing right biceps, a permanent and painful re- minder of a life cut too short serves as mute motivation for Chase Claypool almost every hour of every day. "A thousand tears won't bring you back, I know because I've cried. Neither will a thousand words, I know because I've tried. Until we meet again." Claypool, who's expected to become Notre Dame's next front-line receiver this fall, lost his older sister of two years, Ashley, to suicide a little more than seven years ago. Ashley was still in high school. "It was just shocking when it set in," Clay- pool said in 2016, the first time he was asked about the tragic loss. "Because looking back at it, she was giving people signs and I wasn't there for her. So I always try to use it as motivation, trying to make her proud." If any good could come from such an unthinkable tragedy, Claypool said the loss of his sister pulled him closer to his mother, and added some needed appreciation and commitment to his athletics and academics. "Not letting my mom down and not let- ting my sister down is the driving reason to go out and give my all every day," Claypool said. "Never leave anything on the table." Claypool's commitment reached full throttle this spring when he filled his aca- demic schedule with eight classes for 18 credit hours to help lighten the workload during football season before he graduates in December with a degree in management consulting. "Having five or six classes is tough, hav- ing eight is really a struggle," admitted Clay- pool, who also spent three weeks in May studying in Brazil. "But you get into a rou- tine, you grind through it. … It's worth it." On the field, Claypool mainly played a complementary role most of last season op- posite former Irish standout Miles Boykin, who parlayed his breakout senior year into a third-round selection in the NFL Draft this spring. Still, it should be noted that Claypool be- From walk-on to special teams to starting at slot receiver, Finke has developed into a respected team leader at Notre Dame. Almost two-thirds of Finke's 49 recep- tions in 2018 went for a first down. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA "You have some established players that can play at a high level with Claypool and Finke. They are really good players, we knew that, and it continues to show." HEAD COACH BRIAN KELLY