Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/79481
UNDER THE DOME Dame began in 1990. It was sparked by an effort to unite the student body to wear the same T-shirt for the season-opening night game at home against Michigan to raise funds for a Notre Dame gradu- ate student from China, Zhengde Wang, who had bzeen paralyzed in an automobile accident near the campus. In 1990, the 32,300 shirts sold generated THE SHIRT: 2012 "The Shirt" tradition at Notre more than $100,000 for Wang. It has continued into its 23rd year now, and its unveiling is annually done the day before the Blue-Gold Game. Last year a record 165,000 units were sold and raised $700,000. All proceeds support 1) student clubs and organizations on campus such as the Hall's President's Council and Habitat for Humanity, and 2) help defray medical costs for students who have been injured. A main controversy with The Shirt over the years has but a huge variance from last year's softer hue. The dark blue tone celebrates The Pride And Tradition of 125 Years Of Notre Dame Football on the back, with 10 of its major achievements outlined. Listed No. 1 is the 11 national cham- pionships. However, most of the others are obstructed by three action shots, with former running back Allen Pinkett (1982-85) on the left, Heisman Trophy winner Tim Brown (1984-87) on the right and Robert Hughes (2007-10) coming straight at you in the middle. The front has the Shake Down The Thunder theme, with 2009 Biletnikoff been the varying colors used. Sometimes it's been differ- ent shades of green, other times various hues of blue, and some years it's even had various yellow/gold/mustard tones. For the third straight year, The Shirt 2012 will be blue, Award winner Golden Tate running with the ball while lightning strikes in the background. Walk-Ons Rewarded Kelly announced in the final week of spring practice that all 19 walk- ons who partook in spring practice will make the trip to Dublin, Ire- land, for the Sept. 1 season opener against Navy. "All of the guys who came in pro- Notre Dame head coach Brian vided us with some great help," Kelly said. In numerical order, here are the walk-ons from this spring, not including senior safety/special teams regular Chris Salvi, who was awarded a scholarship for 2012: 16 MAY 2012 No. Player 17 Charlie Fiessinger QB 6-1 185 So. 35 Joe Romano 36 Will Salvi 37 Eric Lee 38 Nick Fitzpatrick WR 5-8 170 Sr. 38 Joe Schmidt CB 5-10 176 Sr. WR/RB 5-9 180 So. Pos. Ht. Wt. Yr. CB 5-9 170 Jr. 39 Ryan Liebscher WR 5-11 205 Jr. 40 Connor Cavalaris S 5-10 194 So. 49 Blake Breslau 49 Tyler Plantz 54 Grant Patton 62 Matt Tansey ILB 6-0 223 So. 71 Dennis Mahoney OT 6-7 294 Sr. 84 Andre Smith WR 6-2 190 So. 86 Arturo Martinez TE 6-4 250 Jr. 93 Connor Little S 5-10 185 Sr. RB 5-9 202 Jr. DE 6-6 256 Sr. OL 6-6 265 Sr. 94 Dominic Romeo DE 6-6 245 Jr. 99 Kevin Carr LB 6-3 225 So. DE 6-7 325 Jr. BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED RETAIL OPERATIONS PHOTOS COURTESY NOTRE DAME