32 APRIL/MAY 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED
BY ERIC HANSEN
M
ore than a year after sur-
viving a stroke but losing a
dream seemingly forever,
Will Schweitzer showed up
for a routine follow-up medical exam
and walked out with a second chance.
The congenital hole in his heart,
which was discovered after the stroke in
2022 and that had helped lead to it, had
completely disappeared. And football
was back on the table for the then-Notre
Dame senior if he was willing to transfer,
reverse his medical retirement …
And break the promise the defensive
end from Los Gatos, Calif., had made
to himself in the hospital bed just after
a blood clot had been dislodged from
his brain and before a definitive medical
prognosis or football ramifications were
offered up.
"I came to Notre Dame with two
goals," Schweitzer told Blue & Gold Illus-
trated. "The first was to play in the NFL
someday, and the second was to kind of
leave Notre Dame better than I found it.
GREAT THINGS
After a stroke ended his playing
career, Will Schweitzer changed
Notre Dame football anyway
Through leadership, financial literacy
initiatives and the 4 for Forever pro-
gram, Schweitzer reshaped his own tra-
jectory and quietly influenced the Irish
program in ways that still ripple today.
PHOTO COURTESY WILL SCHWEITZER
