Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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for the 2013 fall term," Golson said in a statement released by Notre Dame's media relations department. "I take full responsibility for my poor choices and will do all that is asked of me to regain the trust of my family, friends, teammates, coaches and the entire Notre Dame community." What the "poor academic judgment" entailed was vague and not addressed either by Golson or the school (academic privacy laws deter such comments), but a source with knowledge of the situation said Golson withdrew from the school as a result of an academic honor code violation. Golson was adamant that he will apply to Notre Dame for readmission in January 2014. Where he will attend school this fall remained unclear when Blue & Gold Illustrated was printed July 23. In the first week of July, the Myrtle Beach, S.C., native Golson was back in his home state participating in a charity basketball tournament, and he gave a brief interview to local ABC-TV affiliate WPDE. He avoided the topic of why he was suspended, but reiterated his goal to return to Notre Dame next spring. "My parents and the community I grew up in have instilled values in me that have and will continue to allow me to be successful in the future," he added in his original statement over Memorial Day weekend. "There have been many lessons learned as I worked to become the starting quarterback at Notre Dame and each was a result of Coach [Brian] Kelly's belief in me as an athlete and a person. "At this point, I understand how my integrity could be in question, but I want to reassure my supporters that through this experience I will return a better student-athlete as well as a better individual. "Lastly, I want to thank the University of Notre Dame for the opportunity already granted and also the opportunity going forth to regain my eligibility in the winter of 2014." Kelly addressed the matter during an impromptu teleconference May 28. "I'm on 30 years now in college ball, and it's like being a dad; you're disappointed, but you know these things happen," Kelly said. "You want your players to be accountable. So there's a big sense of pride in knowing Everett handled himself in the right way. He took full accountability and responsibility and is going to do everything in his power to get himself back here at Notre Dame. "You can't be surprised when you're working with 18- to 21-year-olds. I'm not surprised when my 15-year-old knucklehead son comes home and does crazy things. We're there as a family and we hope to support him." Tommy Rees To The Rescue … Again To no one's surprise, senior Tommy Rees was declared the starter by Kelly entering August preseason camp. Rees actually has more career starts than Golson (18 to 11), and has passed for nearly twice as much yardage (4,413 to 2,405) and almost three times as many touchdowns (34 to 12). Last year, Rees came off the bench cold in the fourth quarter yet still helped rally Notre Dame to victories against Purdue (20-17) and Stanford