Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/204831
in the trenches andrew owens Carolina that ended the Tigers' undefeated season. "We try to avoid the noise," Kelly said. "We have a big sign right as you leave this building that talks about all of those things. We constantly talk to our players about here at Notre Dame you have to be able to avoid getting involved in that because it will distract you from what you need to do, and that is go to school, take care of your academics, and be focused on football. "I don't know Missouri's situation, but here at Notre Dame it's a regular occurrence, so our guys are schooled on it. We bring in professionals to talk about all of that information that's out there in the summer. We educate our kids on it." Jimmy Sanderson, a Clemson researcher who collaborated on a 2012 study regarding how college athletes deal with negative comments directed toward them on social media, recently discussed the topic with the Associated Press. "What I worry about is some of the psychological outcomes," he said. "Does it lead to decreased self-esteem? Does it lead to depression? Does it lead to guys not eating and sleeping right?" Notre Dame senior quarterback Tommy Rees (@t_rees11) is often the target of angry Irish fans who blame him for a recent loss or criticize him for his overall play. Rees has said in the past that he doesn't pay attention to the tweets and that they do not affect him. On another social media note, sophomore right tackle Ronnie Stanley and sophomore defensive end Jarron Jones recently joined freshman quarterback Malik Zaire on the list of players who have broken Notre Dame's social media policy for its players. Zaire tweeted that he was cleared to play earlier this season after battling mononucleosis, while Jones tweeted he was heading home after a death in the family. A couple days after the win at Air Force, Stanley tweeted he was at St. Liam's, the university's health center. "I heard he had a tweet about being at Saint Liam's or something. Today he gets the same, we call it the Zaire Treatment," Kelly quipped. "Our new standard in our books." Kelly Shows Passion For Red Sox Kelly has never hidden his allegiance to the Boston Red Sox, who captured the organization's third World Series in 10 years Oct. 30. In a video on UND.com (the team's official website), Kelly discussed several of the objects on the walls in his office at the Guglielmino Athletics Complex that you would expect a head coach to have (footballs, rings, awards, etc.) before explaining the story behind a pair of baseball bats hanging in the office. The first was a gift from Red Sox outfielder Shane Victorino. He and former Irish receiver Robby Toma became friends as fellow Hawaiians that have succeeded athletically. The second bat was a gift from the Notre Dame Club of Boston from when Kelly threw out the ceremonial first pitch at Fenway Park this past summer. ✦ Andrew Owens has been a writer for Blue & Gold Illustrated since August 2013. He can be reached at aowens@blueandgold.com