Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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4 NOV. 13, 2017 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED T he irony and disconnect last week between the residents of Notre Dame fandom and the battalion of Irish football players who keep that legion vibrant was fascinating to watch when the first College Football Playoff rankings were re- leased Halloween night on prime-time television. T h e I n t e r n e t m e s s a g e boards and Irish chat rooms were abuzz days in advance with speculation on where Notre Dame would land in this initial ranking. Ten- sions ran high. Fingers were crossed. Anticipation ruled. And much to the delight of those glued to the selec- tion show like a Seinfeld finale, Notre Dame landed fairly and squarely in the playoff picture with a No. 3 ranking. The following is just one impassioned and celebratory sample of the Twitterlanche reaction: "Notre Dame got a solid spot all they gotta do is win out and they'll be straight. … For the love of God win out please." If one fan is already petitioning a higher power for a playoff berth, the Irish players must have flocked to the Grotto after hearing the good news, right? "I was not even watching. I wasn't near a TV," dismissively reported Irish running back Josh Adams, who spent that evening mentoring a 10-year-old boy named David in the local foster care system. "We were just hanging out, playing a little cards. Obviously, I get out of practice pretty late, so I go over as soon as practice ended. "I can spend only a few minutes with him but however long I can make it happen, I make sure that I do that." We'll forgive Adams, a junior, for missing the selection show but certainly this was must-see TV for the Notre Dame seniors, being their chance at a national championship run. "I was actually working on a group project at the time when the rank- ing came out," said senior captain Greer Martini, who received the No. 3 news from an excited classmate track- ing the rankings on his cell phone. "I don't think it really means that much to us." Hmmmm, apparently the keepers of ND Nation fail to realize the im- portance of these playoff rankings. What were you doing, Jerry Tillery? "I did not watch the playoff rank- ing show. I had better things to do," the junior defensive lineman said. Se- riously? Like what? "Studying for an exam, thanks for asking." For the record, Tillery's exam was in econometrics, a statistical course that has nothing to do with quarter- back hurries, tackles for loss or forced fumbles, and that's the point. As sur- prising as it may be to hear, there's more to life for our weekend warriors than football. National television, prime-time games, playoff hopes, a return to glory — from the outside looking in it's easy to forget that academic demands, real-life pursuits and per- sonal interests for these gentlemen stretch well beyond what happens on game days. We routinely ignore when these young men go out and make a difference. We never forget when they go out and mess up. These are our foot- ball heroes, our Saturday idols, and every minute these athlete- students put in on campus Sun- day through Friday should be geared toward the betterment of Saturday. Don't tell that to the guys. Senior Irish linebacker and Academic All-American Drue Tranquill will graduate this December in just three and a half years with a 3.7 GPA in mechanical engineering, one of the more difficult majors to survive at Notre Dame. "The scheduling in engineer- ing was always so rigorous," Tranquill explained of his bal- ancing act. "I would have to give and take on both ends and either leave class early some- times, or sometimes I would ask Coach to meet earlier in the day and miss a little bit of football meet- ings." For his tireless work and endless hours serving local charities, senior Irish punter Tyler Newsome was re- cently named a nominee for the 2017 Allstate AFCA Good Woks Team, an annual honor given to the college football players around the country who best excel both on the field and in the community. Being a Fighting Irish football player clearly brings privilege and perks few will ever realize. But as the Notre Dame football program comes under tighter surveillance and the ex- pectations rise during its postseason push, let's not forget there are actual young men inside those gold helmets that live lives far beyond football Sat- urdays. So let's excuse them and celebrate them for leaving the television off during selection shows and keeping a better playoff perspective than their adoring fan base ever could. ✦ ND Players Are Keeping A Postseason Perspective UPON FURTHER REVIEW TODD D. BURLAGE Todd D. Burlage has been a writer for Blue & Gold Illustrated since July 2005. He can be reached at tburlage@blueandgold.com Junior defensive lineman Jerry Tillery and his Fighting Irish teammates had more important things do than tune into the College Football Playoff rankings show Oct. 31. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA