Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BY LOU SOMOGYI A lex Bars is described as someone who adamantly refuses to toot his horn … but he might play you some guitar upon request. It's not often that a 6-6, 290-pound high school All-American lineman also plays in the school band. How- ever, when you live in Nashville, Tenn., home of the Grand Ole Opry, music just becomes part of your fiber. Both of Bars' older brothers, Brad and Blake, play tenor saxophone — and also play football at Penn State and Michigan, respectively. "It's just something I did on my own," Bars said when asked about his musical interest that led him to be one of three guitarists in the band's rhythm section. "We had concerts every now and then on Sundays, mainly jazz, but we didn't really play at football or bas- ketball games." Good thing because Bars has been in a starring role for both varsity teams since his sophomore year. This year, though, Bars opted to take a course in art instead while skipping music to broaden other horizons. "I just want to mix it up my senior year," he said. Where he has mixed it up the best is on the football field, but getting him to talk about his high school playing ca- reer might rate just below pulling teeth on the degree of difficulty scale. "He's been recruited by just about everybody, yet he is just a very humble kid who didn't want a lot of attention," said Marty Euverard, Bars' head foot- ball coach at Montgomery Bell Acad- Alex Bars Strikes The Right Chords The Bars — (from left to right) Michigan offensive lineman Blake, Penn State defensive end Brad, Alex and high school freshman Lauren — have proven to be an athletic family. PHOTO COURTESY BARS FAMILY