Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BY JACK SOBLE T he lasting image of Notre Dame cor- nerback Christian Gray at the na- tional championship wasn't the one most remember. It's Gray, his No. 29 jersey removed, walk- ing through the bowels of Mercedes-Benz Stadium with a towel over his head and his eyes pointed toward his feet. The one most remember is Gray, running as fast as he pos- sibly could but not fast enough as Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith waited for a third-and-11 deep ball that would seal Notre Dame's loss. But a devastated Gray, the con- fidence and fun-loving swagger he carried throughout his sophomore season gone, was more poignant. It didn't last very long. Gray didn't let it. "The next day," Gray said when asked how long it took him to turn the page to the 2025 season. "I told myself that day that there was going to be hate. It's going to be everybody else trying to tell me something, tell me ev- erything else. But all I can do is go on to the next day." Gray said Notre Dame defensive backs coach Mike Mickens helped him move on, as did his mom, Shonda. Mickens told him, "It happens. It's life." Shonda Gray, her son explained, was more specific. "My mom was like, 'Are you going to let another man take your swagger as a DB or are you going to keep your swagger and keep going on and get better?'" Gray said. HANDLING THE HATE Shonda Gray had never seen anything like it. Her son had always been likable in the public eye, from the early days of his re- cruitment to his first season as Notre Dame's starting field cornerback. It was jarring, she explained, to see some of the hate hurled his way after the national title game. "I was shocked," Shonda Gray told Blue & Gold Illustrated. "What made me even more interested in speaking life into my son was when I got an inbox message from a fan. That's when I knew it went too far." As far as football parents go, Shonda Gray is not online very often. If she was receiving hateful messages, she asked herself, what was being sent to her son? The answer shocked her even further. "I finally talked to him and heard that he was saying. People were telling him to go kill himself — it was crazy," Shonda Gray said. "As a parent, it shifted me to a differ- ent mindset on what I had to tell my son. It really was more about biblical principles and faith." The Grays are strong in their faith. It was initially pastors at their church in St. Louis who convinced Shonda Gray to let her son play football. And faith helped them both get through tough times such as losing his father at 4 years old, his grandmother being diagnosed with cancer the day he committed to Notre Dame and then passing away from the disease during his freshman year. "I'm just there to remind him who he is, who God says he is," Shonda Gray said. "God doesn't make any mistakes. You hear, 'Is this something you love to do?' And the answer is yes, of course." Shonda Gray talked to her son about faith after the national championship game, and in doing so, she also tried to restore his swagger. She reminded him that sometimes being disliked comes with the job of being a cor- nerback at Notre Dame. And she reminded him that his confidence is what makes him who he is. "You're a kid with swag," Shonda Gray said. "Get back to being yourself. … Bring that Christian back, that loves this joy, that big smile. Let's get back." THE RIGHT ATTITUDE Gray had plenty to hang his hat on throughout the 2024 season, which included two of the defining moments of Notre Dame's run to the national championship game. In Week 14, after USC attacked him for 56 26 SUMMER 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED MOVING ON Orange Bowl hero Christian Gray is determined not to let one play impact his swagger and performance