Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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WHERE HAVE YOU GONE? duced three. Gatewood is one of less than two- dozen Notre Dame student-athletes all- time who have earned the combination of All-America, Academic All-America and NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship honors. Gatewood's greatest pride and joy from the achievement is having it serve as an example to his grandson, A.J. Dil- lon, who is beginning to establish him- self as a top football recruit in the class of 2017. As a sophomore at Lawrence Academy in Grotham, Mass., the 6-foot, 223-pound power back Dillon, with 4.59 speed, rushed for 1,368 yards, 8.4 yards per carry and 21 touchdowns, and he also stars at linebacker. Some might contend that 44 years is a long wait to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, but Gatewood is grateful for it being later than sooner. "For me to go to the Hall when he's 16 years old is so much more meaning- ful than if I had I gone 13 or 14 years ago, because he would have had no clue about the significance of the moment," said Gatewood of his grandson. "At this point in his life, what I'm emphasiz- ing, along with his mother [daughter Jessyca], who has been an educator, is hitting the books, because that will en- dure, whereas the records in football, not so much. "Your academic training will endure and carry you farther than the stardom of playing on a field. I can say that with a little bit more authority when I'm car- rying the two pieces of hardware — the silver trophy for academics and now the Hall of Fame award — because you can't have the same recognition without both. "He has a high grade-point average, and he's on the right track to go some place pretty sizable as long as he stays on the same track." The path has been paved well by his grandfather. 'THE SWINGING GATE' A native of Baltimore, Gatewood was coached in the prep ranks at the presti- gious Baltimore City College by George Young, who would serve as the general manager of the New York Giants from 1979-97 and was named NFL Executive of the Year five times. Young modeled his offense after the attack popularized by the Baltimore Colts with Pro Football Hall of Fame members John Unitas at quarterback and John Mackey serving as the centerpiece in a two-tight end set. With ample 200-pound size and open- field running skills, Gatewood was the Mackey-like figure in high school, who would take crossing patterns or short tosses across the middle for sizeable gains or touchdowns while shedding tackles. When he signed with Notre Dame to continue his academic excellence — he would make the Dean's List every semester as a major in economics and sociology — it was with the understand- ing that he would be a wide receiver. Instead, he did a double-take when he was issued No. 44. It was a running back number. "Watching my high school film of breaking tackles downfield, that's where they got the idea, 'We can make him into