Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com MAY 2020 43 IRISH IN THE PROS BY ANDREW MENTOCK O rdinarily, at this time of year, it would be ideal to update Blue & Gold Illustrated readers on the former Notre Dame baseball players in the MLB. Instead, almost the en- tire sports world is on hiatus. The first domino fell on the evening of March 11 when Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for the novel coronavirus shortly before his team's matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Before the clock struck mid- night, the entire NBA season was suspended until further notice. Over the following days and weeks, the NCAA and every professional sports league agreed to close its doors and adjust how business is typi- cally done. That means all Fighting Irish play- ers in the pros are currently sitting on their couch while league commis- sioners are trying to figure out when sports can return. As of mid-April, they were still playing the waiting game. "Essentially, what I've told my folks over the last week is we should just accept that at least for the month of April, we won't be in a position to make any decisions," NBA commis- sioner Adam Silver said in an inter- view with TNT's Ernie Johnson that aired on the NBA's Twitter page. "I don't think that necessarily means that, on May 1, we will be [in that position], but at least I know that just to settle everyone down a little bit." Meanwhile, there are plenty of questions regarding what changes the leagues will make in order to return. The NFL Draft will be held virtually April 23-25, and the MLB is debating hosting a shortened season at training camp locations and tem- porarily abolishing the traditional league structure. "Major League Baseball, assessing myriad proposals, has discussed a radical plan that would eliminate the traditional American and National Leagues for 2020, a high-ranking of- ficial told USA Today, and realign all six divisions for an abbreviated sea- son," USA Today's Bob Nightengale wrote. While the professional leagues are working on logistics, the players are exploring interests outside of sports. Pat Connaughton, the former Notre Dame basketball and baseball player and current member of the Milwaukee Bucks, voiced on Twitter when the NBA first postponed games that he and his colleagues should use their unprecedented amount of downtime to look into business ven- tures that will help support them be- yond their basketball careers. "Now it's like the offseason daily schedule simplified times 100," Con- naughton told UPROXX.com. "It's wake up, cook myself breakfast, come get a workout where I feel like death after, but I feel accomplished. Go upstairs, cook lunch and work on my real estate stuff, start to work on my foundation, the different business stuff that I have outside of basketball. "Then all of a sudden it's time to cook dinner, watch a show, go to bed, repeat." Other former Notre Dame players are using this down- time to spread positivity and help others. Former Fighting Irish and current San Francisco 49ers left tackle Mike McGlinchey went on social media asking fans to go to notesforsupport. org to send letters of support to COVID-19 patients and healthcare workers on the front lines. "I hope everyone is stay- ing home and staying strong during these hard times that we're in," McGlinchey said in a video on his Twitter ac- count. "On behalf of the 49ers, I'd really like to thank all the doctors, nurses, medical work- ers and anyone else who is on the front lines and helping us fight COVID-19 in these trying times we're all in. "You guys have made the ultimate sacrifice by standing in harm's way so we can all stay safe." But even with all this extra time, the biggest obstacle Fighting Irish professional athletes face is training and staying in shape while gyms are shut down and workout equipment is sold out on eCommerce websites. Former Notre Dame defensive end Romeo Okwara, who currently plays for the Detroit Lions, lives and trains with fellow Fighting Irish alum James Onwualu in Southern California. "We bought a keg yesterday," Ok- wara said. "We're using that for over- head squats and lunges and whatnot. It's been pretty interesting." It's impossible to pinpoint when professional sports will return, and player and fan safety must be of the utmost importance. They could re- turn in May, over the summer or not until 2021. But until then, former Notre Dame players will strive to keep them- selves busy, whether if that's by working on business investments, supporting healthcare workers or training with unique pieces of equipment. ✦ What Former Notre Dame Professional Athletes Are Up To While The Sporting World Is On Hiatus During his down time, San Francisco 49ers left tackle Mike McGlinchey took to social media to ask fans to go to notesforsupport.org to send letters of support to COVID-19 patients and healthcare workers on the front lines. PHOTO COURTESY SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS