Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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WHERE HAVE YOU GONE? The Irish scholar-athlete is the newest member of the College Football Hall of Fame BY LOU SOMOGYI T here was a fitting symmetry to the an- nouncement Jan. 9 that former Notre Dame wide receiver Thom Gatewood (1969-71) will be enshrined in the Col- lege Football Hall of Fame later this year. It came 44 years after he last suited up for the Fighting Irish in 1971 — wearing No. 44. It was also 44 years ago that a tuxedo- clad Gatewood was honored in New York City's Waldorf Astoria with an NCAA post-graduate scholarship while his beaming father and uncle were in attendance. The award was established in 1959 as the first initiative in history to honor scholar-athletes with post-gradu- ate scholarships for their combined ath- letic, academic and leadership abilities. Forty-four years later, Gatewood will be in the same room and same banquet hall as one of the extremely few student- athletes in college football annals who were both NCAA post-graduate schol- arship recipients and members of the College Football Hall of Fame. He joins a prestigious group of 30 players who have been selected both to the College Football Hall of Fame and also as National Football Founda- tion Scholar-Athletes. Among them are two other former Notre Dame stars: linebacker Jim Lynch (1964-66) and tight end Dave Casper (1971-73), with Notre Dame the lone institution that has pro- Thom Gatewood, 1969-71 Wide Receiver Gatewood's 14 career 100-yard receiving days are still the third most at Notre Dame, behind only Michael Floyd (17) and Golden Tate (15). PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME MEDIA RELATIONS