Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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looks back on the series of events that led him to South Bend. "For a while, I was pretty close because I didn't know if I was going to get in to Notre Dame," he said. "For a while they weren't really interested in me very seriously, and one of my best friends in high school is [USC sophomore quarterback] Max Wittek. "Some of my other close friends were going there [USC], so it was the comfortable choice, but at the end of the day I got to my senior year and I started to realize more and more that I can make the comfortable choice or the money and the easier route or go chase after my dreams. In my eyes, you only have so many chances to go after a dream, and this was my opportunity and I wasn't going to let it pass." Although many people around Schmidt second-guessed his decision to pass up scholarships or a local spot as a preferred walk-on, he never wavered in his choice. Even now, while he contributes as one of Notre Dame's scholarship defenders, he looks to it as motivation without gloating for his good fortune. "I've had a lot of questionable faces and a lot of questions from people my senior year in high school after I started telling people what I planned on doing," he said. "I think a lot of people didn't understand that it was something I had to do, a dream that I had to go after. So I think people are going to tell you that you can't do stuff in life, but I try not to listen to them and just use that as fuel to go after what I really wanted." Schmidt has gotten what he's always wanted, but he insists his journey is nowhere near complete. ✦ Authentic Notre Dame Helmets by Authentic "Speed" Full-Size Display Helmets Riddell's ND "Speed" helmet features a large-size shell, special-order facemask worn by most of the star players who choose to wear the Speed, internal padding reflective of the "Speed Classic" design, and 4-pt. chinstrap. Official ND gold color. "Irish" bumper on front and back. Approx. 10" tall. Acrylic base attached for display purpose. $299 Style Item #6640-Gold or Style Item #6640-Shamrock Back View Front View Helmets are made-to-order and dropshipped direct from the manufacturer. Please allow up to 48 hours to process your order. Shipping & Handling = $10.00 each VISIT OUR ONLINE STORE www.bluegoldonline.com