Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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WHERE HAVE YOU GONE? leaving Weber to run free for a 35-yard completion that helped clinch No. 1. "We were lucky that year," Casper said. "Michigan and Ohio State both were ahead of us going into the last game [of the regular season], but they tied and both fell behind us. If we played Alabama 10 times, we probably don't win five times … but we made one less mistake than they did that night." All-America honors as a senior, he was only the sixth tight end taken in the 1974 NFL Draft, partly because there were rumors that he was too noncha- lant about football — even running barefooted in campus workouts while consistently posting 4.6 times for pro scouts. The Pittsburgh Steelers were inter- Although Casper earned first-team BEYOND FOOTBALL ested in him as an offensive guard, while New England pegged him at line- backer. The Oakland Raiders selected him with the 45th pick in the draft, right before the Pittsburgh Steelers were about to select. "Nobody wanted me as a tight end in the NFL resulted in 378 catches for 5,216 yards (13.8 yards per catch) and 52 touchdowns, plus scoring the first TD in the Super Bowl XI win against Minnesota. Married in Sacred Heart Church the week after graduating from Notre Dame, Casper and wife Susan have been wed 38 years, have three adult children and are awaiting their third grandson in November. The 61-year-old Casper has worked in the California Bay Area the past 22 years as a financial advisor for Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance, a company he compared to Notre Dame. "Because they're independent con- tractors and run their own business, they can open up a meeting with a prayer to God the Father," Casper said. "They have great ethics. I needed to be part of something that I thought had greater value than just what I did to it — it added some value to what I did. "I think that's why I went to Notre but the Raiders," Casper said. "Had I been drafted by another team, like the Steelers, who knows what would have happened." With the next pick, Pittsburgh se- lected future Hall of Fame linebacker Jack Lambert from Kent State, so it worked out well for both parties. Casper spent seven years with the Dame, because it was a place of value. You could just tell, just by the people there, that there was something bigger than just football at Notre Dame. … Football was there, but you were part of a school." Thus, even though he didn't have eye-popping statistics at Notre Dame, Casper isn't completely surprised that he is the school's newest entry into the College Football Hall of Fame. "A lot of things happen to you — you Oakland Raiders from 1974-80, where he was an All-Pro selection four straight seasons from 1976-79. His 11-year career don't know why — but they kind of hap- pen because you're at Notre Dame. Your jobs, your relationship with people …" And that's probably not by accident. ✦