Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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UNDER THE DOME son, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy in Los Ange- les; Isaiah Thomas and Joe Dumars at Detroit; and Moses Malone in Philadelphia. But each time he arrived either too early or too late when it came to winning an NBA title. The NBA suspended him for the 1987-88 season because of substance abuse, and it trailed him over the years. In re- cent years he coached in the women's professional leagues, and saw sons Royce (Kansas and now Washington State) and Renaldo (Tennessee) play college basketball. In 2010, Woolridge was inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame. BILL WALSH: 1927-2012 starting lineman in college football history than center Bill Walsh, who started as a freshman in 1945, played in all 38 games during his four-year career and played on three unbeaten Notre Dame teams from 1946-48. Walsh died May 13 in Atlanta at age 84 after an ex- There may have never been a more overshadowed tended illness. A product of Phillipsburg (N.J.) High School, Walsh was ranked No. 35 in the Express-Times' 100 Greatest Athletes. He started as a freshman center for the 7-2-1 Irish in during the 1947 repeat run to the title. That '47 unit may have been the greatest assembly of talent in college foot- ball, with 42 players going on to play in the NFL. What made Walsh overshadowed was the linemates who started with him. • The two ends were Leon Hart and Jim Martin, both of whom are in the College Football Hall of Fame. Hart won the 1947 Heisman Trophy, and Martin was the recipient of the Bronze Star for his World War II heroics. • The tackles were George Connor and Ziggy Czarobski continued on next page Walsh played in all 38 games during his four-year career and was part of three unbeaten Notre Dame teams from 1946-48. AUGUST 2012 28 1945, and then after World War II had ended, Walsh backed up war veteran and second-team United Press All-American George Strohmeyer for the 1946 national champion Fighting Irish. Walsh then regained the starting spot from Strohmeyer PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME MEDIA RELATIONS