Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/514677
WHERE HAVE YOU GONE? said, 'I'll give my last dollar to you if you come to Michigan.'" Ohio State head coach Woody Hayes practically lived in the Niehaus living room and Alabama icon Paul "Bear" Bryant ended up signing Niehaus' brother, John, but couldn't quite land Steve. "I went to Notre Dame because my mother wanted me to go there — and I never regretted it," said Niehaus, who turns 61 this September. These days, one of Niehaus' three grandchildren, Matt Dotson, is a soph- omore tight end at Moeller and grow- ing into a major college prospect him- self. The proud granddad will be with Dotson when he attends the Irish In- vasion camp June 19. Niehaus' father, Ralph, was a Little All-American de- fensive tackle at Dayton who played in the NFL before earning the Navy Cross and a Purple Heart in World War II. "I told him he's got the ability of every male in the family," Niehaus said of his 6-5, 230-pound grandson. "My dad was tall with long arms, my brother was fast, and I was quick … he's got a long way to go and he's not near where he's going to be, but he's on the right track." INSTANT IMPACT When the NCAA decided to allow freshman eligibility in 1972, Notre Dame head coach Ara Parseghian didn't think too much of it. He didn't believe a freshman could be good enough to have an impact with the Irish … until he witnessed Niehaus terrorize the scout team at defensive tackle against the varsity the first day of practice. The timing was ideal for Niehaus not only because of the freshman eli- gibility rule but because Notre Dame had just graduated four defensive line- men that were drafted by the NFL, in- cluding first-round picks Walt Patulski and Mike Kadish. Two days before his 18th birthday, Niehaus started the opener at North- western, recorded a team-high 13 tack- les and blocked a kick during a 37-0 shutout. "I was just hoping not to make a fool of myself," he recalled of his debut. "I even prayed to God where I said I didn't want to be the player of the game; I just didn't want to embarrass myself." A week later, he led a 35-0 shutout through three quarters versus Pur- due, and Niehaus dominated again at Michigan State during a 16-0 shutout of a Spartans team that would upset Ohio State. Even defensive line coach Joe Yonto, who had already coached a half-dozen first-team All-Americans for the Irish, relented on some of his taskmaster ways with Niehaus. "Joe kind of let me do what I wanted to do," Niehaus said. "Freshman year he was on me a little bit, but after I made a couple of plays he never yelled at me again." Through four games, Niehaus had recorded a team-high 47 tackles, and Sports Illustrated traveled to Notre Dame to do a cover shoot on Niehaus for their story on the new rule that al- lowed freshmen to play. "At 1 o'clock they were taking all kinds of pictures of me," Niehaus said.