This episode features John Foley, a member of Notre Dame's 1988 National Championship team, sharing his remarkable journey through college football and beyond. He brings forth themes of hard work, tradition, and resilience that define both the Notre Dame legacy and the spirit of the upcoming Notre Dame vs. Ohio State national championship game.
• Discussing the legacy of Notre Dame football and its traditions
• The impact of walk-on players on team dynamics
• Reflections on Coach Lou Holtz’s coaching style
• Transitioning to corporate America after football
• Insights into the emotional and physical challenges faced during his career
• Predictions for the Notre Dame vs. Ohio State matchup
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
The Saxton name resonates in Austin.
Jim's late father, james Saxton, is a Longhorn legend, a
Heisman finalist while playingfor Darryl K Royal, and Jimmy is
a UT football legacy fromWestlake.
He has been insuring Austin fordecades.
He and his staff will give youold school hospitality when
servicing your insurance needs.
(00:47):
It is time we finally decidethe national champion of college
football.
Longhorn fans, your team cameawfully close Texas great season
(01:08):
and you know Stevie Lee and Iin the past rush with Stevie Lee
we talked about how what agreat CFP semifinal.
Four blue bloods.
Anyone a fan of collegefootball was going to love it,
because you're going to have amatchup of blue bloods for a
national championship of collegefootball was going to love it,
because you're going to have amatchup of blue bloods for a
national championship and thetwo teams who advanced have won.
(01:30):
I've lost track of how manynational championships that both
Ohio State and Notre Dame claim, and there's several others
that they don't claim, but Ihave a member of that 1988 Notre
Dame National Championship team.
He's unfiltered, incrediblyintelligent, has a great story,
(01:51):
he's intense and he's from thatLou Holtz era and he has a great
story and for you, aggie fans,watching this, you may remember
him, and I think Alabama fansmay remember him all too well
John Foley and the Notre DameFighting Irish.
(02:11):
Let's talk about it.
Hey, someday I'm going to comeout of that tunnel and I'm going
to run onto this field.
Well, it ain't going to be thisday.
I'm here to play football forthe Irish.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
Coach Parsege didn't know about it.
He didn't know about it.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
John Foley, living in Bee Cave, Texas.
That's a suburb of the greatcity of Austin, Texas.
First off, you are a member ofNotre Dame Irish, the fraternity
for life.
But that movie, Rudy, does thatresonate with you?
What did you think about it?
Does it depict Notre Dame theright way?
Speaker 4 (03:03):
You know what it really does.
The reason why is there's a lotof walk-ons that have done
amazing things.
Pat Eilers is unbelievable, awalk-on from Yale.
I'll never forget when he cameon board.
Really good-looking guy right,really nice hair, coming in from
, I think, harvard or Yale.
We're like who's this guy?
Well, guess what?
He ended up scoring a winningtouchdown.
(03:25):
I think it's Miami.
It's just amazing what thesewalk-ons do.
When they bring to the team.
We're thankful for what we havebecause we're all big football
players, right, and we're goingto get you scholarships, we can
go wherever we want.
And you get these guys come inas walk-ons and I'll tell you,
man, these guys most valuableplayers on that team because
they beat the crap out of us.
(03:46):
And then a lot of those guys goout and actually do some great
things and, uh, you know, I, Ithink our walk-ons probably
donated more money than all theother players, because you know
they're.
It's amazing.
No, it's.
Rudy is a great movie.
It's a.
It's a representation of, likeNotre Dame and opportunities to
be successful and to come andwork hard and you can make the
(04:07):
team.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
That's a great thing If you're watching the live
stream.
It's the eve, sunday night,before the college football
national championship gamebetween the Ohio State and Notre
Dame.
Before we get going, hey,please follow us on IG, all of
our social media platformsFacebook, instagram X, youtube
and TikTok and you can subscribefor free to our YouTube page.
(04:32):
And you know what All of this?
You know, I know this isepisode 447.
None of that would have beenpossible without the likes of
all the sponsors, includingHonest Plumbing and Air.
Would have been possiblewithout the likes of all the
sponsors, including honestplumbing and air.
Uh, they're based out of huddle, texas, but they serve the
greater austin area, where ahandshake still means something
all right.
Well, one thing that I want toshow before we dive into the
(04:55):
notre dame lore is uh, this,these pictures right here.
Obviously, that's you now.
Yes To the left.
That was you back when you werein good playing shape correct.
Yeah, I was like yeah, 250, 260there Looking good man, I've got
to take a feline out of thephoto.
Chloe, chloe Clutch, here likesto be in all my work, zoom
(05:19):
calls and podcast episodes.
So obviously you've aged wellGood genetics, you stay hydrated
, you stay active and you knowand I got to point out that we
are somewhere related Third orfourth cousins.
We're follically challenged andthere's nothing wrong with that
(05:41):
right.
Yes, absolutely.
There's nothing wrong with thatright, yes, absolutely.
One thing that I thinkeverybody that resonates is this
(06:02):
sign that there's so manyhistorical things related to
Notre Dame that really got tostart.
And it's this, one of which isthe sign that you guys got to
hit or slap, yep, as you leftthe locker room at Notre Dame
Stadium yes, we were the first.
Speaker 4 (06:11):
We were the first first ones.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
What do you?
What's the story behind thatsign?
Speaker 4 (06:16):
you know, it's actually a sign that's been
around for Notre Dame for a longtime and, um, nobody ever used
it.
And Lou Holtz basically seesthis sign and like wait a minute
, what?
What is this?
You know, play like a championtoday.
And he, you know, went outthere and asked hey, do you mind
if we use this thing and lookwhere it's at today?
You know, I mean Notre Dame.
There's a lot of brilliantpeople at Notre Dame, a lot of
(06:37):
things going on there, right, soyou'll see some things that
you'll be like, oh, andeventually, down the line,
something big will happen.
But that sign was there, butnobody really cared about it
until Luluk said I like that.
So yeah, that's how thathappened.
And yeah, I have a couple overmy apartment right now and I
(06:58):
moved to Texas three years ago.
So I'll tell you that's a greatgift for your friends and for
your clients 100% it is.
Oh, it's so cool, especiallysince it started with our team
and touching that sign it's sopersonal, you know, and it's
truly amazing.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
When you leave the locker room to go to the field,
you go down a stairway, right.
Yes, sir.
Speaker 4 (07:22):
Yep, and you hit that sign with your hand or some
guy's head you know they're alittle nuts, they do that and
then you take a left, you walklike 10 feet and then you're in
the tunnel and uh, it's thegreatest feeling in the world.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
it's just tradition, you know, it's um, it's just,
it's just unbelievable you, uh,grew up on the south side of
Chicago, st Rita High Schoolproduct.
Now my good friend John Fidler.
He's from the Joliet and forthe last four or five years when
we get together the guys, hetalks about the Catholic League
(08:00):
South side of Chicago, joliet.
He talked about how hard it isand it's very similar to Texas
high school football and maybeeven better.
In some ways You're a part ofthat.
Tell us, set the recordstraight, what is the Catholic
League on the south side ofChicago?
What was that like?
(08:20):
Because all I hear is about howphysical it was and true
football, you know what.
Speaker 4 (08:29):
We're all blue collar .
You know we're all raised alittle bit different.
People are tough in Chicago.
This is Southside.
You know it's very mixed white,black, hispanic.
You know there wasn't no whiteneighborhood or black
neighborhood or Hispanicneighborhood, it was all kind of
mixed and you know it's just avery tough part of town.
We took a lot of pride infootball.
(08:51):
We would love to play theschools in the suburbs.
We'd love that Because we'rejealous they had things.
We're all living in two-bedroomapartments trying to get by
every day.
These kids are just.
We're type a little angry aboutthat probably, but it was, it
was we're.
(09:11):
You know it was.
You're raised to be tough inChicago.
It's.
You know it's outside.
It's still that way today.
I mean, you know NorthernIllinois beat Notre Dame.
You know why?
Right, those are Southside kids.
Is that?
I didn't know that?
Oh yeah, Go look it up.
Those are Southside kids.
I mean I was watching this gameand we were bigger than them,
faster than them and they wouldjust keep punching us in the
(09:31):
face.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
They wanted it.
Speaker 4 (09:33):
Yeah, and well, do you notice how much aggressive
we got after that game?
I still today tell people we'rewinning because we're mean.
You know we won the nationalchampionship because we were the
toughest team on there.
Off the field or on the field,we can kick your butt.
I'm starting to see that now.
I mean, after that NorthernIllinois loss, complete change
in attitude on that team.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
Fast forward.
These years you've been in thefinancial world and you
mentioned that you're currentlyliving in the Austin area.
For three years now, whatbrought you to Texas and
describe your careerpost-football?
Speaker 4 (10:11):
What brought me to Texas, you know, after football
I went into corporate Americafor Scott Paper R Donnelly and
found out I had some greatability with numbers.
So I ended up going to WallStreet and trying to get in
there.
It was funny story.
I went into this brokerage firm.
My sister was a trader thereand you know I was.
(10:31):
I'm dyslexic, okay, so don't dowell on tests, and right.
So they tested me and it wasfunny, and my dad didn't come in
.
That what great.
And the head of sales of the big, big investment bank says well,
you know, we're not going tohire you.
And I said okay, got a questionfor you.
He goes yeah.
I said what's any of yourbrokerage done?
That brokerage from down theblock?
Oh, that's piper.
(10:52):
I said, okay, well, I'm gonnago get a job there to kick your
ass.
Well, guess what?
There's a lady.
She's like oh, no, no, no,you're, you're gonna stay here,
you're working for us.
Mean, it changed your mindright away because I'm like you
know, you just have obstacles inyour life, you know, and that
was one I had.
And I basically said it washilarious, it had a great career
(11:15):
for 22 years, it was awesome.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
That's amazing, that really is.
Speaker 4 (11:21):
Yeah, it's amazing when you get an education from
Notre Dame and you walk inanywhere, they don't ask you
what your GPA is.
Okay, I mean, come on seriously, and I did pretty well, I
actually did pretty well.
But they really respect youimmediately.
And then when they hear youplay football and you're like,
not this big knucklehead, thatreally helps, you know, because
(11:43):
most of our players, as you see,as they grow and get older,
they pretty much stay in goodshape.
So, yeah, it's been just anamazing life.
I never imagined I would havesuch an awesome life until I
went to Notre Dame and found outwhat the world was like.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
Unbelievable.
You're not the first person whohas told me that.
You're not the first personthat has told me that In
football, any athletics, anysport Does wonders for people If
they take advantage of it.
And here is you.
Not too long ago you mentionedyou had a good head of hair he's
(12:18):
not lying and John was adefensive tackle, good size,
very fast, 4'5", 240, 252 pounds, but going left to right.
Is there any story that'srelative to any of those photos?
Speaker 4 (12:39):
Relevant to those photos, like Bobby Humphrey hit.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
Oh yeah, we're going to get to that.
We're going to get to thatIphrey had.
Speaker 4 (12:47):
Oh yeah, we're going to get to that.
We're going to get to that.
I can't wait, pat.
Terrell.
Yeah.
Well, look at my nose.
I had my nose reconstructedtwice, did you?
Oh yeah, I broke my nose allthe time in Notre Dame.
Look at my middle picture.
My nose is completely different.
You know I?
I mean, the thing about louholtz is, um, he just let us
(13:09):
play.
Yeah, you know practice, he letus play and there's a lot of
fighting.
You know a lot of a lot of alot of uh tough things going on
in the field and he and hecontrols it.
You know he controls it andit's amazing, uh, when we get on
a field for a game, it'scompletely different.
We're hitting hard, we're tough, but you know it's amazing,
when we get on a field for agame, it's completely different.
We're hitting hard and we'retough.
It's like we get that all-outpractice and then game.
(13:30):
It's more focused and do theright thing and play the game
right.
It was an interesting journey,especially playing for Holtz and
the players.
I mean the Catholic League.
There's like eight guys fromRideau High School and St
Lawrence all, at the same year,went to Notre Dame.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
I mentioned, follow us on social media.
You can give me a follow to onTwitter as well.
I at Sean C, underscore the ATXJohn Foley, member of the 88
Notre Dame national championshipteam.
There's so many things to talkabout, but you see the headshots
and that's just the beginningof it.
I love looking at headshots ofpeople as we age.
(14:10):
I mean, you were blessed withgood genetics and you were
blessed with great talent, inparticular the ability to play
defensive tackle in the mid-'80s.
I want to take my name off ofhere.
That's you and your uh, notredame, uh, student id.
And if you look at this listand correct me if I'm wrong, it
(14:33):
looks like it's 1987.
Is that right?
Yes, sir, yep, see, for texasfans, if you look on the list of
tackles, he's listed as number10 for Notre Dame.
This was back beforeuniversities.
Like you know, you have theUniversity of Louisiana.
There's no longer Louisianaleft yet.
Before that it was SouthwestLouisiana.
(14:54):
But look at Steve Llewellyn,big defensive tackle for Texas.
That year, 87, was DavidMcWilliams' first year as the
head coach.
But you go back and look atsome of these names.
I mean I'm trying to see likeEugene Hall at Baylor.
Are there any other names thatreally had a career where they
(15:16):
made a name for themselves inthe NFL?
Speaker 4 (15:19):
You know Michael Ruth .
Is Ruth on there?
I think he's on there.
You know he was at BostonCollege yeah, I think he's on
there.
You know he was at BostonCollege.
Yeah, I think he was on there.
Did he tackle for I don't havethe list in front of me Michigan
had a tough guys.
I mean, I was so excited to beon that list.
I didn't expect it, to behonest with you, because I only
tackled two games, the last twogames of the year as linebacker
(15:41):
most of the time, and so I madethat list.
It was unbelievable, becausethese are guys who are Bo
Schembecker and they're right.
I think that's my first collegefootball game.
What?
Speaker 2 (15:53):
year was that 86?
87?
Yeah 87.
Speaker 4 (15:56):
And that's me walking off the field in the 49, which
is hilarious.
I got that thing shot to me amillion times.
Because I'm from south side ofChicago and Michigan, everybody
knows who we are.
I don't know how I got thatcover, but I was very fortunate.
It was kind of cool the thingthat people forget.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
They're probably too young and it's not their fault.
So there was a time frame incollege football before all of
these conference realignmentsthat we see so often now that
you know college athleticschanging daily.
There was a long list ofindependents who were not
members of conferences oh yeahyou guys, florida state, um,
(16:36):
miami, um, but you guys thinkabout this.
You somehow somehow piecedtogether an 11-game independent
schedule every year, and NotreDame, for the most part, still
does that, and Michigan wasevery year correct.
Speaker 4 (16:55):
Yes, michigan, we played with Big Ten teams, a lot
of the Big Ten teams.
Usc.
Yeah, big Ten, then USC andlike Miami.
You know that ended.
But yeah, we played a lot ofthem.
Big Ten, then USC and likeMiami, you know that ended.
But yeah, we play a lot of themin Big Ten and then a lot of
miscellaneous teams like Alabama, miami.
You know times like that.
Yeah, but no one conference.
But Big Ten conference is closeto us so it was easier to
(17:17):
travel.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
How long before you think Notre Dame will be in a
conference, or will that everhappen?
Speaker 4 (17:22):
You know I get a lot of crap about that.
I don't know.
I mean I don't, I don't know.
I mean the game's changed quitea bit.
You know.
Now they're paying theseplayers, which is, you know,
completely different.
The mindset's not about, Idon't know about team.
In a way it is, but you knowit's the highest bidder gets to
(17:43):
to go where they want to go.
Um, you know, I don't blamethem.
It does take away from the game.
Uh, you know how we play it, uh, but yeah, yeah, I'm not sure
what, uh, where it's going to gofrom here.
I mean it's going to be who hasthe most money.
I guess, I don't know.
I mean it could be, but youknow the way I look at.
As long as we keep ourgraduation rate up and our kids
(18:06):
are good guys and do the rightthing, that's what we care about
.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
You know well, from a business point of view you're
not sharing any TV revenue withanybody, to my knowledge, yeah,
no, probably not.
Speaker 4 (18:17):
I don't know why we would get out.
I don't know why we would gowhen we should be independent.
We are very independent.
We always are.
Players are school is.
Um, you know, our brand isamazing.
I mean, we're catholic, allright, that's a big deal.
Um, you know, my, my parentswere catholic.
My, my dad's brother was apriest.
So, you know, I had a chance, II got, I got to pick from three
(18:39):
schools notre dame, notre dameand notre dame.
There you go, I mean, in my dayI was being offered a lot of
money you know, and some reallycool stuff.
And no, my parents, lou Holtz,walked in that door and was like
, you know, like Jesus walkingin the room and his comment, you
(19:00):
know, his comment to me wasinteresting.
He walked into my house and hetold me I had to go to notre
dame, you know, and I'm likethat's the number one player in
the country.
So I was like, okay, you know,I was a little arrogant, but not
verbally, but in my head aparade, all-american, correct
yes, yes, yeah, I was defenseplayer of the year for usa today
, um, and then you know, so, youknow I was.
(19:23):
I was never arrogant or cocky.
Out internally in my head I washell, yeah, it was, but outside
, no.
And he walked up and said, yeah, you got to go to Notre Dame.
And I'm like, I was like okay.
And he said, uh, he told me thereason.
Why is because he says you'llnever last four years.
And I'm looking and I'm likewhat are you talking about?
What are you talking about?
And he said every play you wantto kill somebody, you just want
(19:45):
to knock them out.
And he said you can't do thatin college.
I'm like, oh, yes, you can, hegoes exactly, you can't.
So he literally told me he'slike you know, you need to get
an education and honestly, Ireally didn't think that much.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
You mentioned playing reckless abandon, going down
with your hair on fire.
Here's an example AgainstAlabama in 1987 on the kickoff
team.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
This is classic John Foley, right here and Humphrey
is an experienced and dangerouskickoff return man.
He's got it there at the 10.
Down he goes.
That was John Foley, number 49,who's been sensational all year
long Brent on the kickoff teamfor Notre Dame, One of the most
(20:32):
highly touted young linebackersin America, and he meets Mr
Humphrey.
It's the Lombardi winner acouple of years down the road
against perhaps the HeismanTrophy winner of next year.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
So that's Brent Musburger claiming you may be a
Lombardi Award in the future.
I mean, is that the game?
You really just realized I cando this?
I mean, I know it was specialteams, and sometimes special
teams is overlooked.
Speaker 4 (21:00):
Oh well, you know, actually with Lou Holtz, special
teams, he's like playersplaying in special teams.
A lot of the starters areplaying in special teams, you
know, because a lot of peopledidn't put a lot of the stars on
special teams and I wasn't astar.
But you know, I did the kickoffreturn because I told him one
day I go to practice and make acoach, you know, they make this
wall Right and I said, how aboutif I run down and I just throw
(21:22):
my body into it?
He looked at me like I walkedaway, you know, and I'm like,
all right, that must be a goodidea.
So usually, usually I'm the guywho's coming in first there.
Now, what happened in that film?
If you watch it alabama figuredthat out you're like you let
this guy go, he's going to knockthe whole wall out.
And that's what I used to do isrun down and throw my body into
(21:44):
three people like right at thewall.
It was awesome, awesome.
And that one alabama figuredout.
So they had two guys come offthe ball to stop me.
So I was late coming there andwhen I was coming down the lane
late, you know, we stay in ourlane I saw, I saw opening in in
in the area.
I just went to that opening.
I didn't see that running backguys.
(22:05):
By the way, I never saw thatguy and so I was getting up.
After I threw up on him, um,cause, you know, people are like
, oh, look at your, you knowyour positioning, you're slowing
down.
No, that's all in your brain,that just happens immediately
because you do this 5,000 timesa day, right, and so when I hit
him, I'm like holy cow, I meanit was, and I threw up, you know
(22:27):
, and it was hilarious, becauseI'm hitting this guy and I'm
looking around like wow, thisguy, and he was out, he was
knocked out.
And as I'm getting up, I'mgrabbing, uh, my mouthpiece,
which was like inside here is amask.
And I'm grabbing my mouthpieceand I'm walking off because you
know, lou Holtz, we don't talkon the field, we don't.
You know, we just we play thegame, we go off, we play, we
game off, you don't talk, smack,like they used to, like they do
(22:49):
.
And he grabs me in my mask whenI get off the field and he's
like, who do you think you arelike?
And just puke, puking my mask.
And he's looking at his hand.
I said Coach, I wasn't tauntinghim.
I threw up on him, I had to getmy mouthpiece and he looked at
me and walked away.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
He said I am done here.
Speaker 4 (23:08):
Yes, yes.
So, speaking about my injury,when we went to the Cotton Bowl,
you know Lou Holtz, when hecame to my house he said to me I
will do something that willprobably eventually cause my
injury.
And what happened is, when Iwas starting the Cotton Bowl,
defensive tackle Holtz was likeI don't want you playing special
teams, you know.
And I said no.
I said I'm playing specialteams.
(23:28):
I'd rather play special teamsthan D-tackle.
Right Now I'm playing both.
Now, right, he looks at me likeI'm nuts.
I'm like no, I said a kickoffreturn.
Coach, I got to protect Timmy.
He's like look at me, like whatdo you mean?
I'm like I was the first guy infront of Tim Brown on kickoffs.
Okay, you got to go through meif you're going to go to Timmy.
And nobody got Timmy, ifthey're going through me.
(23:51):
And so I told coach, you knowI'm't think you should, it's not
a good idea.
I broke my neck on the thirdkickoff and I played two and a
half quarters with a broken neckand I knew it was over.
I mean, my body was completelyshot.
But you know, I remember hewalked to my house when he was
recruiting me telling me I'mgoing to do something stupid.
I'm not going to last fouryears.
Well, there you go.
If I wouldn't have played inspecial teams, I'd probably be
(24:13):
still playing or I would havebeen playing for a while.
But yeah, special teams areawesome and you know you get
this reputation or you get.
You know you want to protectTimmy.
To me, protecting Tim Brown wasmy job, right, like you know,
if there's guys coming in herewith machine guns, I'm standing
in front of Timmy, all right.
Yeah, I took pride in that.
Speaker 2 (24:32):
I took pride in that so Notre Dame has always been a
big draw.
Notre Dame sells tickets.
Cotton Bowl was back at the oldCotton Bowl Stadium before it
moved to Jerry World in 2010.
And it was a big game.
It was a New Year's Day morning, usually game.
Texas A&M at that point was inthe midst of dominating the
(24:57):
Southwest Conference.
Jackie Sherrill was the headcoach and the 87 season was
their third straight SWC title.
Yep and Notre Dame kind of whathappened that year, Because you
guys had four losses that year,if I remember correctly.
Speaker 4 (25:17):
Yeah, it was more near the end of the year.
Yeah, yeah, we had a lot ofinjuries and then going into the
combo, you know, I thought we'ddo better.
I mean, we did really well thefirst two quarters, but after
that it got difficult.
Our linebackers were amazing.
I mean, their defense wasreally tough.
Speaker 2 (25:36):
Yeah, wrecking crew, they were really good.
Speaker 4 (25:37):
Yeah, wrecking crew, they were really good, yeah, and
so we had some injuries.
I think it's our second year,right, it's our second year and
we're growing, we're learningand we made mistakes, and that's
kind of what happens is we'redoing really well in the
beginning.
Then all of a sudden lost toPenn State and then Texas A&M.
(25:58):
We really felt we can beatthose guys.
But they were tough, they weregood, they played well.
Speaker 2 (26:04):
So you had that injury, all your own kickoff and
before that, I think it wasstill the first quarter the
image that I will never forgetwas the member of the 12th man
kickoff team for Texas A&Mbrought down Tim Brown, who won
the Heisman Trophy that year.
He's from the Dallas area.
Speaker 1 (26:26):
This happened Both benches clear Tim Brown and
Thomas following that kickoffreturn.
Now he's down and remember he'splaying with that back problem
and Brown sets sail after number11.
(26:47):
He brings him down from behindand that causes the benches to
empty.
Speaker 2 (26:56):
He stole number 11 for A&M I can't remember his
name on the 12th man kickoffteam, I believe Stole Tim
Brown's towel and Tim reactedand I thought right then and
there that Notre Dame was goingto roll.
But it didn't happen.
Speaker 4 (27:12):
Yeah, it's, you know, you just don't take things from
people, and that's why thatfight happened.
I mean you just, yeah, you know, you just don't take things
from people, nope, and that'swhy that fight happened.
I mean you just, yeah, you know, all of us were growing up
different, you know, and so it'slike you want to fight, okay,
we'll fight.
And that's pretty much whathappened.
And Coach grabbed me right awayand just took me off the field
because he knew I'd probably getin big trouble.
(27:32):
But yeah, it was kind ofchildish, right, I mean, guys
take his towel running away andyou know, 12th man, right, it's
12th man thing.
So it was probably somebody whodidn't play as much.
And it was.
It was disrespectful it reallywas emotional time and, yeah, I
think we did well for a whilethere, but then again, you know,
they just, they just had abetter team bucky richardson,
(27:54):
the quarterback for a&m, and,and and you guys, that was lou
holtz's.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
What third year or second year?
Speaker 4 (28:02):
yeah, well, that was the second year and actually we
should thank texas a&m becausewe went on one national
championship next year.
So, uh, and part of that wasbecause of that, you know.
Uh, we embarrassed ourselvesand we were pissed.
Uh, you know, we probablystarted our morning meetings at
five instead of six.
You, you know losing that game.
Yeah, I mean, you know us losingto Northern Illinois, I truly
(28:22):
believe, won us a nationalchampionship.
You know, because it meansyou're vulnerable at any time,
anywhere you can lose.
So when we lost that game, wewere embarrassed, we were pissed
, you know, and so we wanted tocome back and win and that's
what happened.
You know, if we would have wonthe game, would we win the
national championship next year?
I don't know, but we left on akind of a sore note and we
(28:42):
wanted to right that wrong.
And I truly believe there arecertain games in your life you
play and that change the way theteam plays, change the way the
team succeeds, and I think thatwas our turn.
You know we thought we weremuch better than that and we
weren't.
You know we were short people,but I do believe that built the
national championship team.
And then you know Miami, theyear before, you know, running
(29:03):
up to score on Jerry Fouts,right, I mean that was a big
mistake.
When that happened, anyCatholic League kid from Chicago
was going to go to Notre Dame.
I mean we had nine or eight ofthem, right.
The reason why a lot of themtook that personal what they did
to Jerry Fouts the year beforewe all got there.
So football you know when theydo these stats and they talk
(29:24):
about these games and who'sgoing to win by this many points
, there's so much you miss incalculating, like motion and
history, and you know team andhonor.
You know you can't put thatinto any calculation.
You know, like Ohio State'ssupposed to beat us by nine.
Really, I wasn't reallyimpressed with Ohio state the
last five weeks.
Yeah, I think they lost a gameor two.
Yeah, they did.
So why are they so much betterthan us?
(29:46):
You know, I love it.
I love it.
I think that's going to driveour guys to succeed.
And a great coach there.
If I was on that team I'd bepissed.
Speaker 2 (29:56):
Yeah, and we're definitely going to be talking
about that here shortly this 88team.
You mentioned it when we weretalking before this your
relationship with Lou Holtz, andsummarize what that was like
for you and have the honor toplay for him.
Speaker 4 (30:12):
You know, it was great.
He was like a father, you know,and you did not want to
disappoint him.
I mean it was like if he wasmad at you, you were like it's
like the worst thing in theworld.
You know, yeah, he was tough,he was.
You know, he's out there.
He was getting down and playing.
It's hilarious, I mean he'sgetting on a three stance and go
(30:33):
hit somebody and we're likewhat the hell is he doing, you
know, and he's, he's adisciplinarian, but he, he lets
the animals play.
Let's just say that duringpractice, all right, yeah,
during practice he lets us be.
You know, he lets us get it out.
You know, I mean a lot offighting.
Not a lot of fighting, but alot of super competitive hitting
(30:54):
.
He was okay with it.
You know, in games, no, but inpractice, super competitive
hitting, he was okay with it.
You know, in games, no, but inpractice, yeah.
I mean there's a reason theyput a rapper on the field.
Okay, you know he was a toughcoach.
I mean look at the stars we hadas assistant coaches Barry
Alvarez, palermo.
I mean, yeah, we hadunbelievable coach Fazio from
(31:15):
Pitt.
I mean we had the best coachesin the world.
I mean we should have won anational championship with that
type of coaching staff.
I mean, if you look at whatsuccess they had and what they
did, and they were all toughguys.
Speaker 2 (31:27):
That's amazing.
Lou Holtz and Fiery you guys, Ithink you guys beat.
It was kind of like anexperimental.
Let's try to match the two bestteams in the Fiesta Bowl after
the 88 season.
Mm-hmm.
They had Major Harris rightWest Virginia.
Speaker 4 (31:45):
You guys had Toby.
Speaker 2 (31:46):
Rice, yeah, and Rocket Ishmael yeah.
Speaker 4 (31:51):
We had I mean Eck and Gronhardt and I mean we had
just Pat Eilers.
I mean we had a ton of stars.
You know Pat Tyler, taylor, patand we Pat Eilers, who ends up
being like.
You know, we had anunbelievable team there that
nobody really knew.
We're a bunch of no-names andit was awesome because we had so
(32:13):
many talented people that theydidn't realize until the end of
the year.
We have a lot of talentedpeople Because we had so many
talented people that they didn'trealize until the end of the
year.
We had a lot of talented people.
We were able to fix spots wherewe got hurt.
You know you lose people.
We had a lot of people steppingup and you know, a big part of
that again is, you know, texasA&M beating our ass.
You know we were pissed.
Speaker 2 (32:28):
It launched for the next year?
Yes, it did.
Is there any story from yourtime playing at Notre Dame?
That's as funny now as it waswhen it happened.
It could be classified as a mancave story.
Speaker 4 (32:42):
Filter free, so wait.
So what are you looking for now?
A man happened at practice orsomething.
Speaker 2 (32:48):
Like anything that you remember, that's still
comical now that you still laughat the same way, any type of
man cave story from those days.
Speaker 4 (32:59):
I mean, practice was just crazy.
It was just.
You know, when they kick you,the funny thing is when they
would kick us off the team, youknow.
So if you got in a fight orsomething, you get kicked off
the team.
Oh yeah, right away.
Then Colts would go back andlook at the film and he'll come
(33:23):
back and say, say, okay, you'reback on the team.
Oh it's hilarious.
Oh yeah, it was we're.
Our practices were prettyviolent.
Uh, it was, uh, it was superaggressive, like not what you
can sit normal, you know, I mean, he, he kicked me out of one
practice and I'm walking out andI'm giving all my equipment
away.
You know, I'm giving all myequipment away and I'm getting
my pads away this way, and I'mwalking away Cause, you know, we
, all the egos were mad.
And Colt calls me that nightand says, hey, john, you can.
You know that was a bad.
(33:44):
So we, so the guys, were likecheap, shot me once in a while,
cause they know I'd fightseriously.
So like, okay, who's going tohit falling?
So I get hit, bam, I'm going tostart, and that's, that's the.
That's why the team was.
It was interesting, it was tough, uh, and I would, you know get
kicked out every once in a whileand I give my stuff away.
(34:05):
And I called, holtz called andsaid you're okay, you know, we
saw that that's a cheap shot.
I'm like, yeah, I know.
And he'd be like, all right,I'm like, well, coach, I have no
equipment.
He's like what I said well, youtold me I was off the team, so
I gave it away.
I said, well, you told me I wasoff the team, so I gave it away
.
So, yeah, I mean, yeah, it wasinteresting, I mean it was funny
(34:25):
because you know, I mean hejust let us do that and fight
and get it out.
But you know, it was reallycontrolled.
But I would say that was thefunniest thing when I called him
and told him I had no moreequipment.
Speaker 2 (34:38):
I think he was like that's a great man case story.
What are we talking about, john?
Speaker 4 (34:42):
well, the funny thing is is that he kind of went oh
okay, like no big deal, like, ohokay, I'm like, yeah, coach,
you got my equipment away.
Oh okay, go get some more,because remember, we had Barry
Alvarez, we had Faggio, we had abunch of tough guys in that
field.
Yeah, I mean these were, theseare tough guys, and the coaches
were probably tougher than us,and it was.
(35:03):
It was yeah, am I kidding, eversee the foge man?
That guy was tough and you know, yeah, and barry alvarez, oh my
god, I was afraid of barryalvarez.
I mean great coach, but man, hewas tough and uh, I mean you
look at the name of all thecoaches we had that year
unbelievable, I mean just toughguys.
Speaker 2 (35:22):
And Coach Alvarez, tremendous job at Wisconsin as a
head coach, oh, absolutely.
Speaker 4 (35:28):
Absolutely.
Yeah, he.
It's funny because when yougraduate from Notre Dame, it's
so awesome because you go tothese interviews and people, how
know, got in banking.
I went to this interviewcompany called robinson stevens
and you know I was, I wasselling paper, and the guy walks
in the room and he, he told me,you know, he flew me to
(35:49):
california as a reallywell-known tech company and he
looks, he goes well, you don'thave your mba.
I'm like, yeah, well, you knewthat, because, well, we hire
people with mbas and I, well,what about my references?
I have some pretty goodreferences.
He's like, who are they?
I'm like, well, lou Holtz andBarry Alvarez.
And I started throwing names out.
You know, he's like Lou Holtz,I go, yeah, he goes, really, I
(36:11):
go, yeah, and this, this is abig banker from carl robinson
stevens, famous, and I was, uh,it's like my second year in the
business business, and so hegoes, you can get him on phone.
Oh, yeah, easily.
He's like, really, so I get himon the phone and I said, hey,
jan, help me, I'm interviewingfor a job and you know, I need
it.
Got kids.
Uh, is lou around, yeah, he is.
(36:32):
And so, literally, pick up thephone.
Hey, coach, how you doing good.
This guy's like this, like alljumping up down, like my phone,
what's in the phone says, hey,coach, how you doing good?
And he goes.
Coach, I want you on the leave,is that okay?
He goes, sure, let him out.
So I get out and walk out anduh, you know, I'm sitting there
and hold, and this guy's sittingthere for like a half hour 40
(36:52):
minutes talking to holt, likeswinging in the club look at
hand the desk, it's like he hadthe best time of his life.
And then he uh, knocks on thewindow, he walks in the door and
after he gets off the phonesays, you know, come on in and I
walk in.
He goes, okay, well, you'rehired, and true story.
And I and this is a, this wasliterally it changed my career,
(37:12):
changed my life and I go well,what did he say?
He goes, he goes.
Uh, well, we didn't talk aboutyou.
Actually, I'm like what he goes?
Oh no, we just talked aboutfootball family you know about.
He goes.
Yeah, we didn't say anythingabout you.
I'm like, okay, and he goes.
(37:33):
Uh, I asked coach Holtz onequestion he goes, what's that?
I said, can this kid sell?
And Holtz one question.
He goes what's that?
I said, can this kid sell?
And Holtz said, yeah, hebrought in two top recruiting
classes at Notre Dame.
When he got hurt he ended upworking for the university,
working for me, and I recruitedlike a bunch of the players you
know I was.
When I got injured, my parentstold me, my dad told me, either
I work or I have to go home.
So I broke my neck and I wasdone.
(37:55):
I had to get a job and if Ididn't get a job, I had to go
home.
So I went to Holtz and said,coach, you've got to give me a
job, I've got to find somethingto do.
My dad's making me go home.
My dad was going to make me gohome.
My dad was not going to let mego to Notre Dame without working
.
And Holtz was like, yeah, I'lltalk to him, calls me, okay, um,
go ahead.
And uh, you're gonna work forme, you're gonna, you're gonna
(38:19):
do recruiting.
So yeah, I did.
So.
Basically I took overrecruiting for like it for two
years and I met a lot of greatpeople we're gonna take a quick
break with our guy, john foley.
Speaker 2 (38:29):
We'll take a quick break, but on the other side,
you know, one of the mainfactors, motivations behind this
episode is, you know, notredame is back in the national
championship game for the firsttime a little over a decade, and
we're going to get his thoughtson that opponent, an opponent
that they have only played ahandful of times.
Let's talk about it with JohnFoley.
(38:50):
We'll see you on the other sideof this break.
Honest is a strong word and weall need honesty when it comes
to plumbing and HVAC needs,somebody who will take care of
the repairs efficiently and withquality.
Honest Plumbing and Air is whoI trust and they take pride in
(39:11):
that word.
Honest Plumbing and Air, wherea handshake still means
something.
Speaker 1 (39:33):
Marcus Freeman made the stop.
Here they come.
Defrayne gets the carrystraight ahead.
Speaker 3 (39:37):
Might have gotten a yard, ran into Marcus Freeman
right away.
Speaker 2 (39:40):
How about that?
You're playing Ohio State thegreat storylines.
There's so many of them.
Your young, incredible headcoach, marcus Freeman, is a
former Ohio State Buckeyelinebacker, and a pretty good
one.
Yep.
Speaker 4 (39:57):
That's amazing to me, me do you think he knows their
program pretty well yeah, he'sgot some insight right
absolutely I I honestly believethis is one of the toughest
teams I've seen since I leftnotre dame.
I mean losing.
Northern illinois pissed a lotof them off absolutely should it
should absolutely, you know.
And then now my son played innorthern and my brother played
(40:18):
at Northern, so it's kind oftough, but you know, I knew when
they were going in there theywere going to get a fight and I
think that really set the stagefor us in the title, saying that
you know that was a game oftough guys and we weren't the
tough guys and you know thatreally showed our third team to
move, that get that next levelof just heart and playing hard.
(40:41):
And you know, I mean, if youlooked at the guys on the
sidelines, it looked like a highschool versus a grammar school.
It really did, it really did.
So, you know, and I was, I waslike watching that and I'm like
wow, how are we losing theseguys?
It was his heart and so I thinkthe team learned a lot that
game and I think it's gonnaresonate this game.
I mean that second half from thelast game we played, oh my god,
(41:02):
did you?
Were those guys tough or what?
I mean?
These guys are right and I'mI'm telling you fear matters.
People think, oh, yeah, youhave to strategically.
No bull crap.
You knocked somebody in thehead a couple times.
Yeah, it's not fun, you know,and I honestly believe we're
harder hitters.
I think we're going to playharder and we're just going to
go out there.
(41:22):
I'm glad we're nine pointsbehind Good.
Speaker 2 (41:27):
Nine point underdogs?
Speaker 4 (41:28):
Yeah, didn't this team lose a game a couple like
five, six weeks ago?
This Ohio State team, yeah, Imean that pissed me off.
Okay, they beat Texas, but yeah, seven games, seven points.
It wasn't like they blew themaway.
I mean I don't know what thespread was that game, but I
wasn't impressed.
You know that interception ranback.
You know they beat them by 14points.
(41:50):
Did they really beat them by 14points?
Yeah, because of one crazy play.
So I think they're going to runinto a team that they're not
expecting.
Speaker 2 (42:00):
And you look at this, you could not ask for two
better historic programs.
I mean, each of the four in theCFP semifinals were great.
But look at this I can'tbelieve Notre Dame has not
beaten Ohio State.
But look at this, I can'tbelieve Notre Dame has not
beaten Ohio State.
But look at this 19 nationalchampionships and 14 Heisman
(42:27):
Trophy winners between the two.
This is long overdue.
This is for this to happen inthe national championship game,
don't you think?
Speaker 4 (42:33):
Oh, absolutely, I mean, this has been waiting
forever.
I have a ton of friends who areOhio State fans too.
Yeah, it's funny, they're OhioState fans too.
Yeah, it's funny they're notcalling me now Interesting.
Speaker 2 (42:44):
Hey, I think you guys , Ohio State won a couple of
years ago.
They all played and MarcusFreeman was asked if that will
be used as motivation at all forthis game.
Speaker 3 (42:58):
If there's learning opportunities from other games
or previous games, absolutelywe're going to use them.
It's going to help us be moreprepared for what could happen
in this game.
We're definitely going to useit.
But it isn't for motivation atall.
Speaker 2 (43:12):
Got to respect that.
Got to respect that.
So I know John Foley, youplayed for Notre Dame.
You're a proud graduate alumni.
What do you think is going tohappen in this game?
Notre Dame and Ohio State.
Speaker 4 (43:27):
You know, I'll tell you, I think we're gonna smack
him in the mouth and we're gonnabe a little shocked by it.
I don't think they're expectinga tough Notre Dame football
team.
I just don't think they'reexpecting that.
At least it's gonna be aninteresting game.
It's like watching that guy whoscored that last touchdown on
linebacker as his roommate hispast roommate fumbled the ball.
Speaker 2 (43:51):
You mean this player right here?
Speaker 1 (43:54):
Pressure comes.
Sawyer knocked it out and picksit up, jack Sawyer.
Speaker 2 (43:59):
Yeah, I don't want to run, I don't want to see it
again, but I had to.
Yeah, that was.
Speaker 4 (44:05):
So, yeah, so this is a seven-point game, you know,
and I certainly think we canbeat Texas absolutely and we can
absolutely beat hos state.
I mean, they're you know theyhad a couple good games after
they lost, but they lost, youknow, not too long ago, if I'm
not mistaken.
And I I just think our guys arehungry.
I just just watching them playthe second half and and just
(44:26):
become this vicious hitting teamgave me faith.
The first half of our last game.
I wasn't happy at all.
I was like guys, where are youat?
Where's that team?
That's been the last coupleweeks.
It was frustrating.
Right, penn State, it wasreally frustrating.
But then, all of a sudden, theyturned the lights on and what
happened to Penn State?
What's the score there?
I feel really excited about it.
(44:47):
I think it's going to be a gameof tough guys and athletes, and
we have both.
We both have the same.
Speaker 2 (44:53):
Which line can sustain more physicality and
deliver is my opinion.
Speaker 4 (44:59):
Yeah, we're short.
Right, we have some injuries onthat side, the deep line, I
think.
But you know, I think we'regoing to do fine, I believe
we're going to win.
I do, I have to believe it.
I think we're going to.
I believe we're going to win.
I do I have to believe itbecause just watching them go
through that loss and go throughthe rest of the year, do you
see the score?
How many touchdowns have theseguys scored the last couple
(45:19):
games?
I mean we really smacked a lotof people around.
Did Ohio State have a toughschedule?
Speaker 2 (45:27):
They had.
I think they played 11bowl-eligible teams.
Speaker 4 (45:33):
I think I don't know Well how many bowls are there
100?
Speaker 2 (45:39):
472 bowls.
Speaker 4 (45:44):
Exactly.
You know, I think both ourschedules were interesting.
They weren't super hard, but,you know, I just believe in it.
I believe in this coach man.
It's just, you know, takingthat loss and then coming back
being so strong and playing sohard, and that second half
playing so hard.
First half wasn't that great.
I just think they have the willand the power to do it.
(46:05):
Great hitters, their specialteams are really good.
Their quarterback's kickingbutt man wow, what a turnover.
Huh, I mean Northern Illinoisversus where he's at now.
You know, I mean they have alot of receivers who have a lot
of yards.
This ain't just a couplereceivers.
We have like four, five, sixreceivers that are actually
catching that ball too.
Speaker 2 (46:24):
So we can spread that out.
Hey, man, tell me somethinggood, I'm good.
My brother John Foley, memberof the Notre Dame 1988 National
Championship team I didn't meanto cut you off right there, but
that was by accident I reallythink this game is going to be
(46:45):
decided in the fourth quarter,midway through the fourth
quarter, two physical teams whoare not going to give up.
It's all going to be eventually.
Who survives to see midwaythrough the fourth quarter.
And then strategy, somethingstrategic.
Maybe a turnover will determineit, but we love positivity in
(47:08):
this and stories inside the mancave.
Tell me something good, JohnFoley.
Speaker 4 (47:13):
Tell you something good we're going to win.
You know what I mean.
Think about it.
You're nine points.
I mean that's.
I know I keep saying that, butI think our guys are going to
come in, they're going to smackthem in the mouth a lot and it's
going to change that game.
And you know again, when wasthe last time you had such a big
(47:33):
spread in a nationalchampionship game?
Speaker 2 (47:35):
Man, it has been a long time.
I mean, what was Alabama versusNotre Dame?
What was that spread?
I don't remember.
Speaker 4 (47:43):
No, I don't.
Yeah, probably somewhere aroundthere in 2012.
Yeah, that was a big one, I'mtelling you.
I just feel like these kids aregoing to get done.
If you look at the stats, theseguys all play really well
together.
There's no one superstar.
There's a lot of stars I thinkthat's going to be really
(48:04):
important.
A lot of great receivers.
We've got linebackers asleaders.
These captains seem awesome.
They seem great.
They don't seem to play out ofcontrol off the field.
They seem to be pretty much incontrol.
So I think we're going to win.
I think we're going to win andI think it's going to surprise
some people.
But again, ohio state lost fiveweeks ago.
(48:26):
But yeah, I, I I feel greatabout it.
I mean, what do you?
What do you think?
What do you think score?
But yeah, I feel great about it.
I mean what?
Speaker 2 (48:35):
do you think score?
I think it's something like 27to 23.
I agree, yeah, I mean honestlythe Texas game.
I thought the defenses weregoing to rule that game and it
held true.
Yeah, I think Notre Dame, it'sjust.
(49:00):
You've got to be physical withOhio State's offense and put
Will Howard on the ground andsomehow bracket that receiver
from breaking deep Secondary andpass rush.
Have got to play, be on pointfor this game.
Speaker 4 (49:13):
Yep absolutely.
Speaker 2 (49:15):
But I think Notre Dame has it.
I think Notre Dame is.
I think that they ought to usethat attitude, that people still
don't believe in us.
Speaker 4 (49:25):
Absolutely, and I think again, they're well spread
out.
I mean the receivers, I mean Ithink we have, you know we have
a lot of good receivers Now justone or two, so you know a lot
of them can do a good job there.
The linebackers I'm reallyimpressed with.
I mean they seem like a reallygood crew.
What do you think?
Speaker 2 (49:44):
I think there are.
I think people will know whothey are by 10 or 11 o'clock at
night, monday.
Yep, I agree.
Speaker 4 (49:55):
I agree.
I agree.
I mean, it was mid-season, man,something happened, yeah it
just.
You know, I just couldn't getaway from the tube.
You know, before the firstcouple games I was like yeah,
whatever, then all of a sudden,man, they're like oh, these guys
are being a little bit nasty.
Speaker 2 (50:14):
I thought they showed signs when they went to College
Station and beat A&M.
Then I know the loss toNorthern Illinois occurred after
that.
They were learning how to havesuccess.
Then something clicked, andhere we success.
Okay.
And then something clicked, andhere we are.
Speaker 4 (50:34):
Yeah, yeah, and it's.
I mean that was a good PennState team.
Yes, that was a really goodGeorgia team.
All right, I mean we'd be tworeally good teams.
Speaker 2 (50:47):
And Gunnar Stockton may be a better quarterback for
Georgia.
Speaker 4 (50:53):
Oh yeah, absolutely Absolutely.
And you know, if you watchedGeorgia, probably like mid
beginning, fourth quarter, theydidn't seem really driven, they
seemed tired.
Speaker 2 (51:06):
It's possible.
I mean, that's where you'regetting into this 15, 16,
17-game season.
These players aren't used tothat.
I get it In high school.
You play that if you are statechampionship level, but I think
it's different.
I just think injuries mount upand backups are playing who
(51:28):
normally don't.
They're playing more minutesthan they normally do.
Yep.
It's hard.
They normally do.
Yep, it's hard to train for.
Speaker 4 (51:35):
Yep, we just watch and it seems like Notre Dame
gets better as they play fromthe first quarter to the fourth
quarter.
I mean they just get bettereach quarter and that's awesome.
I mean I didn't see them havetwo great first quarters ever.
I mean they do okay, but theyalways seem to come very strong.
Second, third, first is usuallytough.
Speaker 2 (51:55):
And I know the alumni clubs, notre Dame Alumni
Association clubs across thecountry are excited about it.
There's going to be a lot ofwatch parties everywhere,
including here in Austin, andbig shout-out to the Notre Dame
alumni group here in Austin forconnecting John and I and man,
you never know, we may befriends for life now.
Oh yeah, I really appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (52:18):
I'll tell you the last thing about Marcus.
He's going to make all theplayers who played in Notre Dame
their kids are all coming toNotre Dame.
Now.
It hasn't been like that before.
Look at that Cycling back.
Yes, it's all cycling back.
It's amazing and they love thiscoach.
So it's like, yeah, we'regetting a lot of ex-players Kids
are coming back and playing,which are awesome.
(52:38):
So hopefully, you know, keepthat winning going and keep a
great coach here and keepgetting these players whose
parents once played at NotreDame.
So here's a couple guys.
Take that out.
Erlacher is kind of cool.
So I mean, there's a couple ofguys Check that out.
Earl Acker is kind of cool.
I'm a Chicago guy so I'm gladEarl Acker's over there.
Speaker 2 (52:54):
That's cool, he went to New Mexico, yeah.
Speaker 4 (52:58):
I'll say he's a good dude.
I've seen him a lot aroundChicago.
He's a nice guy.
You know I respect him.
Great, tough guy and I'm gladhis kid's here.
I think his so awesome.
Speaker 2 (53:08):
Yes, man, whenever you get a chance to talk about
the college football nationalchampionship, game, two great
blue blood stories Ohio State,notre Dame and meet one of the
true OG tough guys of collegefootball, even though his career
was cut short by injury man, itis like John Foley.
(53:30):
And to talk about the greatstories of the Notre Dame
Fighting Irish, you know what,it's always good to talk about
it.
Outro Music.
The Saxton name resonates in Austin.
Jim's late father, james Saxton, is a Longhorn legend, a
Heisman finalist while playingfor Darryl K Royal, and Jimmy is
a UT football legacy fromWestlake.
He has been insuring Austin fordecades.
He and his staff will give youold school hospitality when
servicing your insurance needs.
(00:47):
It is time we finally decidethe national champion of college
football.
Longhorn fans, your team cameawfully close Texas great season
(01:08):
and you know Stevie Lee and Iin the past rush with Stevie Lee
we talked about how what agreat CFP semifinal.
Four blue bloods.
Anyone a fan of collegefootball was going to love it,
because you're going to have amatchup of blue bloods for a
national championship of collegefootball was going to love it,
because you're going to have amatchup of blue bloods for a
national championship and thetwo teams who advanced have won.
(01:30):
I've lost track of how manynational championships that both
Ohio State and Notre Dame claim, and there's several others
that they don't claim, but Ihave a member of that 1988 Notre
Dame National Championship team.
He's unfiltered, incrediblyintelligent, has a great story,
(01:51):
he's intense and he's from thatLou Holtz era and he has a great
story and for you, aggie fans,watching this, you may remember
him, and I think Alabama fansmay remember him all too well
John Foley and the Notre DameFighting Irish.
(02:11):
Let's talk about it.
Hey, someday I'm going to comeout of that tunnel and I'm going
to run onto this field.
Well, it ain't going to be thisday.
I'm here to play football forthe Irish.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
Coach Parsege didn't know about it.
He didn't know about it.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
John Foley, living in Bee Cave, Texas.
That's a suburb of the greatcity of Austin, Texas.
First off, you are a member ofNotre Dame Irish, the fraternity
for life.
But that movie, Rudy, does thatresonate with you?
What did you think about it?
Does it depict Notre Dame theright way?
Speaker 4 (03:03):
You know what it really does.
The reason why is there's a lotof walk-ons that have done
amazing things.
Pat Eilers is unbelievable, awalk-on from Yale.
I'll never forget when he cameon board.
Really good-looking guy right,really nice hair, coming in from
, I think, harvard or Yale.
We're like who's this guy?
Well, guess what?
He ended up scoring a winningtouchdown.
(03:25):
I think it's Miami.
It's just amazing what thesewalk-ons do.
When they bring to the team.
We're thankful for what we havebecause we're all big football
players, right, and we're goingto get you scholarships, we can
go wherever we want.
And you get these guys come inas walk-ons and I'll tell you,
man, these guys most valuableplayers on that team because
they beat the crap out of us.
(03:46):
And then a lot of those guys goout and actually do some great
things and, uh, you know, I, Ithink our walk-ons probably
donated more money than all theother players, because you know
they're.
It's amazing.
No, it's.
Rudy is a great movie.
It's a.
It's a representation of, likeNotre Dame and opportunities to
be successful and to come andwork hard and you can make the
(04:07):
team.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
That's a great thing If you're watching the live
stream.
It's the eve, sunday night,before the college football
national championship gamebetween the Ohio State and Notre
Dame.
Before we get going, hey,please follow us on IG, all of
our social media platformsFacebook, instagram X, youtube
and TikTok and you can subscribefor free to our YouTube page.
(04:32):
And you know what All of this?
You know, I know this isepisode 447.
None of that would have beenpossible without the likes of
all the sponsors, includingHonest Plumbing and Air.
Would have been possiblewithout the likes of all the
sponsors, including honestplumbing and air.
Uh, they're based out of huddle, texas, but they serve the
greater austin area, where ahandshake still means something
all right.
Well, one thing that I want toshow before we dive into the
(04:55):
notre dame lore is uh, this,these pictures right here.
Obviously, that's you now.
Yes To the left.
That was you back when you werein good playing shape correct.
Yeah, I was like yeah, 250, 260there Looking good man, I've got
to take a feline out of thephoto.
Chloe, chloe Clutch, here likesto be in all my work, zoom
(05:19):
calls and podcast episodes.
So obviously you've aged wellGood genetics, you stay hydrated
, you stay active and you knowand I got to point out that we
are somewhere related Third orfourth cousins.
We're follically challenged andthere's nothing wrong with that
(05:41):
right.
Yes, absolutely.
There's nothing wrong with thatright, yes, absolutely.
One thing that I thinkeverybody that resonates is this
(06:02):
sign that there's so manyhistorical things related to
Notre Dame that really got tostart.
And it's this, one of which isthe sign that you guys got to
hit or slap, yep, as you leftthe locker room at Notre Dame
Stadium yes, we were the first.
Speaker 4 (06:11):
We were the first first ones.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
What do you?
What's the story behind thatsign?
Speaker 4 (06:16):
you know, it's actually a sign that's been
around for Notre Dame for a longtime and, um, nobody ever used
it.
And Lou Holtz basically seesthis sign and like wait a minute
, what?
What is this?
You know, play like a championtoday.
And he, you know, went outthere and asked hey, do you mind
if we use this thing and lookwhere it's at today?
You know, I mean Notre Dame.
There's a lot of brilliantpeople at Notre Dame, a lot of
(06:37):
things going on there, right, soyou'll see some things that
you'll be like, oh, andeventually, down the line,
something big will happen.
But that sign was there, butnobody really cared about it
until Luluk said I like that.
So yeah, that's how thathappened.
And yeah, I have a couple overmy apartment right now and I
(06:58):
moved to Texas three years ago.
So I'll tell you that's a greatgift for your friends and for
your clients 100% it is.
Oh, it's so cool, especiallysince it started with our team
and touching that sign it's sopersonal, you know, and it's
truly amazing.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
When you leave the locker room to go to the field,
you go down a stairway, right.
Yes, sir.
Speaker 4 (07:22):
Yep, and you hit that sign with your hand or some
guy's head you know they're alittle nuts, they do that and
then you take a left, you walklike 10 feet and then you're in
the tunnel and uh, it's thegreatest feeling in the world.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
it's just tradition, you know, it's um, it's just,
it's just unbelievable you, uh,grew up on the south side of
Chicago, st Rita High Schoolproduct.
Now my good friend John Fidler.
He's from the Joliet and forthe last four or five years when
we get together the guys, hetalks about the Catholic League
(08:00):
South side of Chicago, joliet.
He talked about how hard it isand it's very similar to Texas
high school football and maybeeven better.
In some ways You're a part ofthat.
Tell us, set the recordstraight, what is the Catholic
League on the south side ofChicago?
What was that like?
(08:20):
Because all I hear is about howphysical it was and true
football, you know what.
Speaker 4 (08:29):
We're all blue collar .
You know we're all raised alittle bit different.
People are tough in Chicago.
This is Southside.
You know it's very mixed white,black, hispanic.
You know there wasn't no whiteneighborhood or black
neighborhood or Hispanicneighborhood, it was all kind of
mixed and you know it's just avery tough part of town.
We took a lot of pride infootball.
(08:51):
We would love to play theschools in the suburbs.
We'd love that Because we'rejealous they had things.
We're all living in two-bedroomapartments trying to get by
every day.
These kids are just.
We're type a little angry aboutthat probably, but it was, it
was we're.
(09:11):
You know it was.
You're raised to be tough inChicago.
It's.
You know it's outside.
It's still that way today.
I mean, you know NorthernIllinois beat Notre Dame.
You know why?
Right, those are Southside kids.
Is that?
I didn't know that?
Oh yeah, Go look it up.
Those are Southside kids.
I mean I was watching this gameand we were bigger than them,
faster than them and they wouldjust keep punching us in the
(09:31):
face.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
They wanted it.
Speaker 4 (09:33):
Yeah, and well, do you notice how much aggressive
we got after that game?
I still today tell people we'rewinning because we're mean.
You know we won the nationalchampionship because we were the
toughest team on there.
Off the field or on the field,we can kick your butt.
I'm starting to see that now.
I mean, after that NorthernIllinois loss, complete change
in attitude on that team.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
Fast forward.
These years you've been in thefinancial world and you
mentioned that you're currentlyliving in the Austin area.
For three years now, whatbrought you to Texas and
describe your careerpost-football?
Speaker 4 (10:11):
What brought me to Texas, you know, after football
I went into corporate Americafor Scott Paper R Donnelly and
found out I had some greatability with numbers.
So I ended up going to WallStreet and trying to get in
there.
It was funny story.
I went into this brokerage firm.
My sister was a trader thereand you know I was.
(10:31):
I'm dyslexic, okay, so don't dowell on tests, and right.
So they tested me and it wasfunny, and my dad didn't come in
.
That what great.
And the head of sales of the big, big investment bank says well,
you know, we're not going tohire you.
And I said okay, got a questionfor you.
He goes yeah.
I said what's any of yourbrokerage done?
That brokerage from down theblock?
Oh, that's piper.
(10:52):
I said, okay, well, I'm gonnago get a job there to kick your
ass.
Well, guess what?
There's a lady.
She's like oh, no, no, no,you're, you're gonna stay here,
you're working for us.
Mean, it changed your mindright away because I'm like you
know, you just have obstacles inyour life, you know, and that
was one I had.
And I basically said it washilarious, it had a great career
(11:15):
for 22 years, it was awesome.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
That's amazing, that really is.
Speaker 4 (11:21):
Yeah, it's amazing when you get an education from
Notre Dame and you walk inanywhere, they don't ask you
what your GPA is.
Okay, I mean, come on seriously, and I did pretty well, I
actually did pretty well.
But they really respect youimmediately.
And then when they hear youplay football and you're like,
not this big knucklehead, thatreally helps, you know, because
(11:43):
most of our players, as you see,as they grow and get older,
they pretty much stay in goodshape.
So, yeah, it's been just anamazing life.
I never imagined I would havesuch an awesome life until I
went to Notre Dame and found outwhat the world was like.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
Unbelievable.
You're not the first person whohas told me that.
You're not the first personthat has told me that In
football, any athletics, anysport Does wonders for people If
they take advantage of it.
And here is you.
Not too long ago you mentionedyou had a good head of hair he's
(12:18):
not lying and John was adefensive tackle, good size,
very fast, 4'5", 240, 252 pounds, but going left to right.
Is there any story that'srelative to any of those photos?
Speaker 4 (12:39):
Relevant to those photos, like Bobby Humphrey hit.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
Oh yeah, we're going to get to that.
We're going to get to thatIphrey had.
Speaker 4 (12:47):
Oh yeah, we're going to get to that.
We're going to get to that.
I can't wait, pat.
Terrell.
Yeah.
Well, look at my nose.
I had my nose reconstructedtwice, did you?
Oh yeah, I broke my nose allthe time in Notre Dame.
Look at my middle picture.
My nose is completely different.
You know I?
I mean, the thing about louholtz is, um, he just let us
(13:09):
play.
Yeah, you know practice, he letus play and there's a lot of
fighting.
You know a lot of a lot of alot of uh tough things going on
in the field and he and hecontrols it.
You know he controls it andit's amazing, uh, when we get on
a field for a game, it'scompletely different.
We're hitting hard, we're tough, but you know it's amazing,
when we get on a field for agame, it's completely different.
We're hitting hard and we'retough.
It's like we get that all-outpractice and then game.
(13:30):
It's more focused and do theright thing and play the game
right.
It was an interesting journey,especially playing for Holtz and
the players.
I mean the Catholic League.
There's like eight guys fromRideau High School and St
Lawrence all, at the same year,went to Notre Dame.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
I mentioned, follow us on social media.
You can give me a follow to onTwitter as well.
I at Sean C, underscore the ATXJohn Foley, member of the 88
Notre Dame national championshipteam.
There's so many things to talkabout, but you see the headshots
and that's just the beginningof it.
I love looking at headshots ofpeople as we age.
(14:10):
I mean, you were blessed withgood genetics and you were
blessed with great talent, inparticular the ability to play
defensive tackle in the mid-'80s.
I want to take my name off ofhere.
That's you and your uh, notredame, uh, student id.
And if you look at this listand correct me if I'm wrong, it
(14:33):
looks like it's 1987.
Is that right?
Yes, sir, yep, see, for texasfans, if you look on the list of
tackles, he's listed as number10 for Notre Dame.
This was back beforeuniversities.
Like you know, you have theUniversity of Louisiana.
There's no longer Louisianaleft yet.
Before that it was SouthwestLouisiana.
(14:54):
But look at Steve Llewellyn,big defensive tackle for Texas.
That year, 87, was DavidMcWilliams' first year as the
head coach.
But you go back and look atsome of these names.
I mean I'm trying to see likeEugene Hall at Baylor.
Are there any other names thatreally had a career where they
(15:16):
made a name for themselves inthe NFL?
Speaker 4 (15:19):
You know Michael Ruth .
Is Ruth on there?
I think he's on there.
You know he was at BostonCollege yeah, I think he's on
there.
You know he was at BostonCollege.
Yeah, I think he was on there.
Did he tackle for I don't havethe list in front of me Michigan
had a tough guys.
I mean, I was so excited to beon that list.
I didn't expect it, to behonest with you, because I only
tackled two games, the last twogames of the year as linebacker
(15:41):
most of the time, and so I madethat list.
It was unbelievable, becausethese are guys who are Bo
Schembecker and they're right.
I think that's my first collegefootball game.
What?
Speaker 2 (15:53):
year was that 86?
87?
Yeah 87.
Speaker 4 (15:56):
And that's me walking off the field in the 49, which
is hilarious.
I got that thing shot to me amillion times.
Because I'm from south side ofChicago and Michigan, everybody
knows who we are.
I don't know how I got thatcover, but I was very fortunate.
It was kind of cool the thingthat people forget.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
They're probably too young and it's not their fault.
So there was a time frame incollege football before all of
these conference realignmentsthat we see so often now that
you know college athleticschanging daily.
There was a long list ofindependents who were not
members of conferences oh yeahyou guys, florida state, um,
(16:36):
miami, um, but you guys thinkabout this.
You somehow somehow piecedtogether an 11-game independent
schedule every year, and NotreDame, for the most part, still
does that, and Michigan wasevery year correct.
Speaker 4 (16:55):
Yes, michigan, we played with Big Ten teams, a lot
of the Big Ten teams.
Usc.
Yeah, big Ten, then USC andlike Miami.
You know that ended.
But yeah, we played a lot ofthem.
Big Ten, then USC and likeMiami, you know that ended.
But yeah, we play a lot of themin Big Ten and then a lot of
miscellaneous teams like Alabama, miami.
You know times like that.
Yeah, but no one conference.
But Big Ten conference is closeto us so it was easier to
(17:17):
travel.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
How long before you think Notre Dame will be in a
conference, or will that everhappen?
Speaker 4 (17:22):
You know I get a lot of crap about that.
I don't know.
I mean I don't, I don't know.
I mean the game's changed quitea bit.
You know.
Now they're paying theseplayers, which is, you know,
completely different.
The mindset's not about, Idon't know about team.
In a way it is, but you knowit's the highest bidder gets to
(17:43):
to go where they want to go.
Um, you know, I don't blamethem.
It does take away from the game.
Uh, you know how we play it, uh, but yeah, yeah, I'm not sure
what, uh, where it's going to gofrom here.
I mean it's going to be who hasthe most money.
I guess, I don't know.
I mean it could be, but youknow the way I look at.
As long as we keep ourgraduation rate up and our kids
(18:06):
are good guys and do the rightthing, that's what we care about
.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
You know well, from a business point of view you're
not sharing any TV revenue withanybody, to my knowledge, yeah,
no, probably not.
Speaker 4 (18:17):
I don't know why we would get out.
I don't know why we would gowhen we should be independent.
We are very independent.
We always are.
Players are school is.
Um, you know, our brand isamazing.
I mean, we're catholic, allright, that's a big deal.
Um, you know, my, my parentswere catholic.
My, my dad's brother was apriest.
So, you know, I had a chance, II got, I got to pick from three
(18:39):
schools notre dame, notre dameand notre dame.
There you go, I mean, in my dayI was being offered a lot of
money you know, and some reallycool stuff.
And no, my parents, lou Holtz,walked in that door and was like
, you know, like Jesus walkingin the room and his comment, you
(19:00):
know, his comment to me wasinteresting.
He walked into my house and hetold me I had to go to notre
dame, you know, and I'm likethat's the number one player in
the country.
So I was like, okay, you know,I was a little arrogant, but not
verbally, but in my head aparade, all-american, correct
yes, yes, yeah, I was defenseplayer of the year for usa today
, um, and then you know, so, youknow I was.
(19:23):
I was never arrogant or cocky.
Out internally in my head I washell, yeah, it was, but outside
, no.
And he walked up and said, yeah, you got to go to Notre Dame.
And I'm like, I was like okay.
And he said, uh, he told me thereason.
Why is because he says you'llnever last four years.
And I'm looking and I'm likewhat are you talking about?
What are you talking about?
And he said every play you wantto kill somebody, you just want
(19:45):
to knock them out.
And he said you can't do thatin college.
I'm like, oh, yes, you can, hegoes exactly, you can't.
So he literally told me he'slike you know, you need to get
an education and honestly, Ireally didn't think that much.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
You mentioned playing reckless abandon, going down
with your hair on fire.
Here's an example AgainstAlabama in 1987 on the kickoff
team.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
This is classic John Foley, right here and Humphrey
is an experienced and dangerouskickoff return man.
He's got it there at the 10.
Down he goes.
That was John Foley, number 49,who's been sensational all year
long Brent on the kickoff teamfor Notre Dame, One of the most
(20:32):
highly touted young linebackersin America, and he meets Mr
Humphrey.
It's the Lombardi winner acouple of years down the road
against perhaps the HeismanTrophy winner of next year.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
So that's Brent Musburger claiming you may be a
Lombardi Award in the future.
I mean, is that the game?
You really just realized I cando this?
I mean, I know it was specialteams, and sometimes special
teams is overlooked.
Speaker 4 (21:00):
Oh well, you know, actually with Lou Holtz, special
teams, he's like playersplaying in special teams.
A lot of the starters areplaying in special teams, you
know, because a lot of peopledidn't put a lot of the stars on
special teams and I wasn't astar.
But you know, I did the kickoffreturn because I told him one
day I go to practice and make acoach, you know, they make this
wall Right and I said, how aboutif I run down and I just throw
(21:22):
my body into it?
He looked at me like I walkedaway, you know, and I'm like,
all right, that must be a goodidea.
So usually, usually I'm the guywho's coming in first there.
Now, what happened in that film?
If you watch it alabama figuredthat out you're like you let
this guy go, he's going to knockthe whole wall out.
And that's what I used to do isrun down and throw my body into
(21:44):
three people like right at thewall.
It was awesome, awesome.
And that one alabama figuredout.
So they had two guys come offthe ball to stop me.
So I was late coming there andwhen I was coming down the lane
late, you know, we stay in ourlane I saw, I saw opening in in
in the area.
I just went to that opening.
I didn't see that running backguys.
(22:05):
By the way, I never saw thatguy and so I was getting up.
After I threw up on him, um,cause, you know, people are like
, oh, look at your, you knowyour positioning, you're slowing
down.
No, that's all in your brain,that just happens immediately
because you do this 5,000 timesa day, right, and so when I hit
him, I'm like holy cow, I meanit was, and I threw up, you know
(22:27):
, and it was hilarious, becauseI'm hitting this guy and I'm
looking around like wow, thisguy, and he was out, he was
knocked out.
And as I'm getting up, I'mgrabbing, uh, my mouthpiece,
which was like inside here is amask.
And I'm grabbing my mouthpieceand I'm walking off because you
know, lou Holtz, we don't talkon the field, we don't.
You know, we just we play thegame, we go off, we play, we
game off, you don't talk, smack,like they used to, like they do
(22:49):
.
And he grabs me in my mask whenI get off the field and he's
like, who do you think you arelike?
And just puke, puking my mask.
And he's looking at his hand.
I said Coach, I wasn't tauntinghim.
I threw up on him, I had to getmy mouthpiece and he looked at
me and walked away.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
He said I am done here.
Speaker 4 (23:08):
Yes, yes.
So, speaking about my injury,when we went to the Cotton Bowl,
you know Lou Holtz, when hecame to my house he said to me I
will do something that willprobably eventually cause my
injury.
And what happened is, when Iwas starting the Cotton Bowl,
defensive tackle Holtz was likeI don't want you playing special
teams, you know.
And I said no.
I said I'm playing specialteams.
(23:28):
I'd rather play special teamsthan D-tackle.
Right Now I'm playing both.
Now, right, he looks at me likeI'm nuts.
I'm like no, I said a kickoffreturn.
Coach, I got to protect Timmy.
He's like look at me, like whatdo you mean?
I'm like I was the first guy infront of Tim Brown on kickoffs.
Okay, you got to go through meif you're going to go to Timmy.
And nobody got Timmy, ifthey're going through me.
(23:51):
And so I told coach, you knowI'm't think you should, it's not
a good idea.
I broke my neck on the thirdkickoff and I played two and a
half quarters with a broken neckand I knew it was over.
I mean, my body was completelyshot.
But you know, I remember hewalked to my house when he was
recruiting me telling me I'mgoing to do something stupid.
I'm not going to last fouryears.
Well, there you go.
If I wouldn't have played inspecial teams, I'd probably be
(24:13):
still playing or I would havebeen playing for a while.
But yeah, special teams areawesome and you know you get
this reputation or you get.
You know you want to protectTimmy.
To me, protecting Tim Brown wasmy job, right, like you know,
if there's guys coming in herewith machine guns, I'm standing
in front of Timmy, all right.
Yeah, I took pride in that.
Speaker 2 (24:32):
I took pride in that so Notre Dame has always been a
big draw.
Notre Dame sells tickets.
Cotton Bowl was back at the oldCotton Bowl Stadium before it
moved to Jerry World in 2010.
And it was a big game.
It was a New Year's Day morning, usually game.
Texas A&M at that point was inthe midst of dominating the
(24:57):
Southwest Conference.
Jackie Sherrill was the headcoach and the 87 season was
their third straight SWC title.
Yep and Notre Dame kind of whathappened that year, Because you
guys had four losses that year,if I remember correctly.
Speaker 4 (25:17):
Yeah, it was more near the end of the year.
Yeah, yeah, we had a lot ofinjuries and then going into the
combo, you know, I thought we'ddo better.
I mean, we did really well thefirst two quarters, but after
that it got difficult.
Our linebackers were amazing.
I mean, their defense wasreally tough.
Speaker 2 (25:36):
Yeah, wrecking crew, they were really good.
Speaker 4 (25:37):
Yeah, wrecking crew, they were really good, yeah, and
so we had some injuries.
I think it's our second year,right, it's our second year and
we're growing, we're learningand we made mistakes, and that's
kind of what happens is we'redoing really well in the
beginning.
Then all of a sudden lost toPenn State and then Texas A&M.
(25:58):
We really felt we can beatthose guys.
But they were tough, they weregood, they played well.
Speaker 2 (26:04):
So you had that injury, all your own kickoff and
before that, I think it wasstill the first quarter the
image that I will never forgetwas the member of the 12th man
kickoff team for Texas A&Mbrought down Tim Brown, who won
the Heisman Trophy that year.
He's from the Dallas area.
Speaker 1 (26:26):
This happened Both benches clear Tim Brown and
Thomas following that kickoffreturn.
Now he's down and remember he'splaying with that back problem
and Brown sets sail after number11.
(26:47):
He brings him down from behindand that causes the benches to
empty.
Speaker 2 (26:56):
He stole number 11 for A&M I can't remember his
name on the 12th man kickoffteam, I believe Stole Tim
Brown's towel and Tim reactedand I thought right then and
there that Notre Dame was goingto roll.
But it didn't happen.
Speaker 4 (27:12):
Yeah, it's, you know, you just don't take things from
people, and that's why thatfight happened.
I mean you just, yeah, you know, you just don't take things
from people, nope, and that'swhy that fight happened.
I mean you just, yeah, you know, all of us were growing up
different, you know, and so it'slike you want to fight, okay,
we'll fight.
And that's pretty much whathappened.
And Coach grabbed me right awayand just took me off the field
because he knew I'd probably getin big trouble.
(27:32):
But yeah, it was kind ofchildish, right, I mean, guys
take his towel running away andyou know, 12th man, right, it's
12th man thing.
So it was probably somebody whodidn't play as much.
And it was.
It was disrespectful it reallywas emotional time and, yeah, I
think we did well for a whilethere, but then again, you know,
they just, they just had abetter team bucky richardson,
(27:54):
the quarterback for a&m, and,and and you guys, that was lou
holtz's.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
What third year or second year?
Speaker 4 (28:02):
yeah, well, that was the second year and actually we
should thank texas a&m becausewe went on one national
championship next year.
So, uh, and part of that wasbecause of that, you know.
Uh, we embarrassed ourselvesand we were pissed.
Uh, you know, we probablystarted our morning meetings at
five instead of six.
You, you know losing that game.
Yeah, I mean, you know us losingto Northern Illinois, I truly
(28:22):
believe, won us a nationalchampionship.
You know, because it meansyou're vulnerable at any time,
anywhere you can lose.
So when we lost that game, wewere embarrassed, we were pissed
, you know, and so we wanted tocome back and win and that's
what happened.
You know, if we would have wonthe game, would we win the
national championship next year?
I don't know, but we left on akind of a sore note and we
(28:42):
wanted to right that wrong.
And I truly believe there arecertain games in your life you
play and that change the way theteam plays, change the way the
team succeeds, and I think thatwas our turn.
You know we thought we weremuch better than that and we
weren't.
You know we were short people,but I do believe that built the
national championship team.
And then you know Miami, theyear before, you know, running
(29:03):
up to score on Jerry Fouts,right, I mean that was a big
mistake.
When that happened, anyCatholic League kid from Chicago
was going to go to Notre Dame.
I mean we had nine or eight ofthem, right.
The reason why a lot of themtook that personal what they did
to Jerry Fouts the year beforewe all got there.
So football you know when theydo these stats and they talk
(29:24):
about these games and who'sgoing to win by this many points
, there's so much you miss incalculating, like motion and
history, and you know team andhonor.
You know you can't put thatinto any calculation.
You know, like Ohio State'ssupposed to beat us by nine.
Really, I wasn't reallyimpressed with Ohio state the
last five weeks.
Yeah, I think they lost a gameor two.
Yeah, they did.
So why are they so much betterthan us?
(29:46):
You know, I love it.
I love it.
I think that's going to driveour guys to succeed.
And a great coach there.
If I was on that team I'd bepissed.
Speaker 2 (29:56):
Yeah, and we're definitely going to be talking
about that here shortly this 88team.
You mentioned it when we weretalking before this your
relationship with Lou Holtz, andsummarize what that was like
for you and have the honor toplay for him.
Speaker 4 (30:12):
You know, it was great.
He was like a father, you know,and you did not want to
disappoint him.
I mean it was like if he wasmad at you, you were like it's
like the worst thing in theworld.
You know, yeah, he was tough,he was.
You know, he's out there.
He was getting down and playing.
It's hilarious, I mean he'sgetting on a three stance and go
(30:33):
hit somebody and we're likewhat the hell is he doing, you
know, and he's, he's adisciplinarian, but he, he lets
the animals play.
Let's just say that duringpractice, all right, yeah,
during practice he lets us be.
You know, he lets us get it out.
You know, I mean a lot offighting.
Not a lot of fighting, but alot of super competitive hitting
(30:54):
.
He was okay with it.
You know, in games, no, but inpractice, super competitive
hitting, he was okay with it.
You know, in games, no, but inpractice, yeah.
I mean there's a reason theyput a rapper on the field.
Okay, you know he was a toughcoach.
I mean look at the stars we hadas assistant coaches Barry
Alvarez, palermo.
I mean, yeah, we hadunbelievable coach Fazio from
(31:15):
Pitt.
I mean we had the best coachesin the world.
I mean we should have won anational championship with that
type of coaching staff.
I mean, if you look at whatsuccess they had and what they
did, and they were all toughguys.
Speaker 2 (31:27):
That's amazing.
Lou Holtz and Fiery you guys, Ithink you guys beat.
It was kind of like anexperimental.
Let's try to match the two bestteams in the Fiesta Bowl after
the 88 season.
Mm-hmm.
They had Major Harris rightWest Virginia.
Speaker 4 (31:45):
You guys had Toby.
Speaker 2 (31:46):
Rice, yeah, and Rocket Ishmael yeah.
Speaker 4 (31:51):
We had I mean Eck and Gronhardt and I mean we had
just Pat Eilers.
I mean we had a ton of stars.
You know Pat Tyler, taylor, patand we Pat Eilers, who ends up
being like.
You know, we had anunbelievable team there that
nobody really knew.
We're a bunch of no-names andit was awesome because we had so
(32:13):
many talented people that theydidn't realize until the end of
the year.
We have a lot of talentedpeople Because we had so many
talented people that they didn'trealize until the end of the
year.
We had a lot of talented people.
We were able to fix spots wherewe got hurt.
You know you lose people.
We had a lot of people steppingup and you know, a big part of
that again is, you know, texasA&M beating our ass.
You know we were pissed.
Speaker 2 (32:28):
It launched for the next year?
Yes, it did.
Is there any story from yourtime playing at Notre Dame?
That's as funny now as it waswhen it happened.
It could be classified as a mancave story.
Speaker 4 (32:42):
Filter free, so wait.
So what are you looking for now?
A man happened at practice orsomething.
Speaker 2 (32:48):
Like anything that you remember, that's still
comical now that you still laughat the same way, any type of
man cave story from those days.
Speaker 4 (32:59):
I mean, practice was just crazy.
It was just.
You know, when they kick you,the funny thing is when they
would kick us off the team, youknow.
So if you got in a fight orsomething, you get kicked off
the team.
Oh yeah, right away.
Then Colts would go back andlook at the film and he'll come
(33:23):
back and say, say, okay, you'reback on the team.
Oh it's hilarious.
Oh yeah, it was we're.
Our practices were prettyviolent.
Uh, it was, uh, it was superaggressive, like not what you
can sit normal, you know, I mean, he, he kicked me out of one
practice and I'm walking out andI'm giving all my equipment
away.
You know, I'm giving all myequipment away and I'm getting
my pads away this way, and I'mwalking away Cause, you know, we
, all the egos were mad.
And Colt calls me that nightand says, hey, john, you can.
You know that was a bad.
(33:44):
So we, so the guys, were likecheap, shot me once in a while,
cause they know I'd fightseriously.
So like, okay, who's going tohit falling?
So I get hit, bam, I'm going tostart, and that's, that's the.
That's why the team was.
It was interesting, it was tough, uh, and I would, you know get
kicked out every once in a whileand I give my stuff away.
(34:05):
And I called, holtz called andsaid you're okay, you know, we
saw that that's a cheap shot.
I'm like, yeah, I know.
And he'd be like, all right,I'm like, well, coach, I have no
equipment.
He's like what I said well, youtold me I was off the team, so
I gave it away.
I said, well, you told me I wasoff the team, so I gave it away
.
So, yeah, I mean, yeah, it wasinteresting, I mean it was funny
(34:25):
because you know, I mean hejust let us do that and fight
and get it out.
But you know, it was reallycontrolled.
But I would say that was thefunniest thing when I called him
and told him I had no moreequipment.
Speaker 2 (34:38):
I think he was like that's a great man case story.
What are we talking about, john?
Speaker 4 (34:42):
well, the funny thing is is that he kind of went oh
okay, like no big deal, like, ohokay, I'm like, yeah, coach,
you got my equipment away.
Oh okay, go get some more,because remember, we had Barry
Alvarez, we had Faggio, we had abunch of tough guys in that
field.
Yeah, I mean these were, theseare tough guys, and the coaches
were probably tougher than us,and it was.
(35:03):
It was yeah, am I kidding, eversee the foge man?
That guy was tough and you know, yeah, and barry alvarez, oh my
god, I was afraid of barryalvarez.
I mean great coach, but man, hewas tough and uh, I mean you
look at the name of all thecoaches we had that year
unbelievable, I mean just toughguys.
Speaker 2 (35:22):
And Coach Alvarez, tremendous job at Wisconsin as a
head coach, oh, absolutely.
Speaker 4 (35:28):
Absolutely.
Yeah, he.
It's funny because when yougraduate from Notre Dame, it's
so awesome because you go tothese interviews and people, how
know, got in banking.
I went to this interviewcompany called robinson stevens
and you know I was, I wasselling paper, and the guy walks
in the room and he, he told me,you know, he flew me to
(35:49):
california as a reallywell-known tech company and he
looks, he goes well, you don'thave your mba.
I'm like, yeah, well, you knewthat, because, well, we hire
people with mbas and I, well,what about my references?
I have some pretty goodreferences.
He's like, who are they?
I'm like, well, lou Holtz andBarry Alvarez.
And I started throwing names out.
You know, he's like Lou Holtz,I go, yeah, he goes, really, I
(36:11):
go, yeah, and this, this is abig banker from carl robinson
stevens, famous, and I was, uh,it's like my second year in the
business business, and so hegoes, you can get him on phone.
Oh, yeah, easily.
He's like, really, so I get himon the phone and I said, hey,
jan, help me, I'm interviewingfor a job and you know, I need
it.
Got kids.
Uh, is lou around, yeah, he is.
(36:32):
And so, literally, pick up thephone.
Hey, coach, how you doing good.
This guy's like this, like alljumping up down, like my phone,
what's in the phone says, hey,coach, how you doing good?
And he goes.
Coach, I want you on the leave,is that okay?
He goes, sure, let him out.
So I get out and walk out anduh, you know, I'm sitting there
and hold, and this guy's sittingthere for like a half hour 40
(36:52):
minutes talking to holt, likeswinging in the club look at
hand the desk, it's like he hadthe best time of his life.
And then he uh, knocks on thewindow, he walks in the door and
after he gets off the phonesays, you know, come on in and I
walk in.
He goes, okay, well, you'rehired, and true story.
And I and this is a, this wasliterally it changed my career,
(37:12):
changed my life and I go well,what did he say?
He goes, he goes.
Uh, well, we didn't talk aboutyou.
Actually, I'm like what he goes?
Oh no, we just talked aboutfootball family you know about.
He goes.
Yeah, we didn't say anythingabout you.
I'm like, okay, and he goes.
(37:33):
Uh, I asked coach Holtz onequestion he goes, what's that?
I said, can this kid sell?
And Holtz one question.
He goes what's that?
I said, can this kid sell?
And Holtz said, yeah, hebrought in two top recruiting
classes at Notre Dame.
When he got hurt he ended upworking for the university,
working for me, and I recruitedlike a bunch of the players you
know I was.
When I got injured, my parentstold me, my dad told me, either
I work or I have to go home.
So I broke my neck and I wasdone.
(37:55):
I had to get a job and if Ididn't get a job, I had to go
home.
So I went to Holtz and said,coach, you've got to give me a
job, I've got to find somethingto do.
My dad's making me go home.
My dad was going to make me gohome.
My dad was not going to let mego to Notre Dame without working
.
And Holtz was like, yeah, I'lltalk to him, calls me, okay, um,
go ahead.
And uh, you're gonna work forme, you're gonna, you're gonna
(38:19):
do recruiting.
So yeah, I did.
So.
Basically I took overrecruiting for like it for two
years and I met a lot of greatpeople we're gonna take a quick
break with our guy, john foley.
Speaker 2 (38:29):
We'll take a quick break, but on the other side,
you know, one of the mainfactors, motivations behind this
episode is, you know, notredame is back in the national
championship game for the firsttime a little over a decade, and
we're going to get his thoughtson that opponent, an opponent
that they have only played ahandful of times.
Let's talk about it with JohnFoley.
(38:50):
We'll see you on the other sideof this break.
Honest is a strong word and weall need honesty when it comes
to plumbing and HVAC needs,somebody who will take care of
the repairs efficiently and withquality.
Honest Plumbing and Air is whoI trust and they take pride in
(39:11):
that word.
Honest Plumbing and Air, wherea handshake still means
something.
Speaker 1 (39:33):
Marcus Freeman made the stop.
Here they come.
Defrayne gets the carrystraight ahead.
Speaker 3 (39:37):
Might have gotten a yard, ran into Marcus Freeman
right away.
Speaker 2 (39:40):
How about that?
You're playing Ohio State thegreat storylines.
There's so many of them.
Your young, incredible headcoach, marcus Freeman, is a
former Ohio State Buckeyelinebacker, and a pretty good
one.
Yep.
Speaker 4 (39:57):
That's amazing to me, me do you think he knows their
program pretty well yeah, he'sgot some insight right
absolutely I I honestly believethis is one of the toughest
teams I've seen since I leftnotre dame.
I mean losing.
Northern illinois pissed a lotof them off absolutely should it
should absolutely, you know.
And then now my son played innorthern and my brother played
(40:18):
at Northern, so it's kind oftough, but you know, I knew when
they were going in there theywere going to get a fight and I
think that really set the stagefor us in the title, saying that
you know that was a game oftough guys and we weren't the
tough guys and you know thatreally showed our third team to
move, that get that next levelof just heart and playing hard.
(40:41):
And you know, I mean, if youlooked at the guys on the
sidelines, it looked like a highschool versus a grammar school.
It really did, it really did.
So, you know, and I was, I waslike watching that and I'm like
wow, how are we losing theseguys?
It was his heart and so I thinkthe team learned a lot that
game and I think it's gonnaresonate this game.
I mean that second half from thelast game we played, oh my god,
(41:02):
did you?
Were those guys tough or what?
I mean?
These guys are right and I'mI'm telling you fear matters.
People think, oh, yeah, youhave to strategically.
No bull crap.
You knocked somebody in thehead a couple times.
Yeah, it's not fun, you know,and I honestly believe we're
harder hitters.
I think we're going to playharder and we're just going to
go out there.
(41:22):
I'm glad we're nine pointsbehind Good.
Speaker 2 (41:27):
Nine point underdogs?
Speaker 4 (41:28):
Yeah, didn't this team lose a game a couple like
five, six weeks ago?
This Ohio State team, yeah, Imean that pissed me off.
Okay, they beat Texas, but yeah, seven games, seven points.
It wasn't like they blew themaway.
I mean I don't know what thespread was that game, but I
wasn't impressed.
You know that interception ranback.
You know they beat them by 14points.
(41:50):
Did they really beat them by 14points?
Yeah, because of one crazy play.
So I think they're going to runinto a team that they're not
expecting.
Speaker 2 (42:00):
And you look at this, you could not ask for two
better historic programs.
I mean, each of the four in theCFP semifinals were great.
But look at this I can'tbelieve Notre Dame has not
beaten Ohio State.
But look at this, I can'tbelieve Notre Dame has not
beaten Ohio State.
But look at this 19 nationalchampionships and 14 Heisman
(42:27):
Trophy winners between the two.
This is long overdue.
This is for this to happen inthe national championship game,
don't you think?
Speaker 4 (42:33):
Oh, absolutely, I mean, this has been waiting
forever.
I have a ton of friends who areOhio State fans too.
Yeah, it's funny, they're OhioState fans too.
Yeah, it's funny they're notcalling me now Interesting.
Speaker 2 (42:44):
Hey, I think you guys , Ohio State won a couple of
years ago.
They all played and MarcusFreeman was asked if that will
be used as motivation at all forthis game.
Speaker 3 (42:58):
If there's learning opportunities from other games
or previous games, absolutelywe're going to use them.
It's going to help us be moreprepared for what could happen
in this game.
We're definitely going to useit.
But it isn't for motivation atall.
Speaker 2 (43:12):
Got to respect that.
Got to respect that.
So I know John Foley, youplayed for Notre Dame.
You're a proud graduate alumni.
What do you think is going tohappen in this game?
Notre Dame and Ohio State.
Speaker 4 (43:27):
You know, I'll tell you, I think we're gonna smack
him in the mouth and we're gonnabe a little shocked by it.
I don't think they're expectinga tough Notre Dame football
team.
I just don't think they'reexpecting that.
At least it's gonna be aninteresting game.
It's like watching that guy whoscored that last touchdown on
linebacker as his roommate hispast roommate fumbled the ball.
Speaker 2 (43:51):
You mean this player right here?
Speaker 1 (43:54):
Pressure comes.
Sawyer knocked it out and picksit up, jack Sawyer.
Speaker 2 (43:59):
Yeah, I don't want to run, I don't want to see it
again, but I had to.
Yeah, that was.
Speaker 4 (44:05):
So, yeah, so this is a seven-point game, you know,
and I certainly think we canbeat Texas absolutely and we can
absolutely beat hos state.
I mean, they're you know theyhad a couple good games after
they lost, but they lost, youknow, not too long ago, if I'm
not mistaken.
And I I just think our guys arehungry.
I just just watching them playthe second half and and just
(44:26):
become this vicious hitting teamgave me faith.
The first half of our last game.
I wasn't happy at all.
I was like guys, where are youat?
Where's that team?
That's been the last coupleweeks.
It was frustrating.
Right, penn State, it wasreally frustrating.
But then, all of a sudden, theyturned the lights on and what
happened to Penn State?
What's the score there?
I feel really excited about it.
(44:47):
I think it's going to be a gameof tough guys and athletes, and
we have both.
We both have the same.
Speaker 2 (44:53):
Which line can sustain more physicality and
deliver is my opinion.
Speaker 4 (44:59):
Yeah, we're short.
Right, we have some injuries onthat side, the deep line, I
think.
But you know, I think we'regoing to do fine, I believe
we're going to win.
I do, I have to believe it.
I think we're going to.
I believe we're going to win.
I do I have to believe itbecause just watching them go
through that loss and go throughthe rest of the year, do you
see the score?
How many touchdowns have theseguys scored the last couple
(45:19):
games?
I mean we really smacked a lotof people around.
Did Ohio State have a toughschedule?
Speaker 2 (45:27):
They had.
I think they played 11bowl-eligible teams.
Speaker 4 (45:33):
I think I don't know Well how many bowls are there
100?
Speaker 2 (45:39):
472 bowls.
Speaker 4 (45:44):
Exactly.
You know, I think both ourschedules were interesting.
They weren't super hard, but,you know, I just believe in it.
I believe in this coach man.
It's just, you know, takingthat loss and then coming back
being so strong and playing sohard, and that second half
playing so hard.
First half wasn't that great.
I just think they have the willand the power to do it.
(46:05):
Great hitters, their specialteams are really good.
Their quarterback's kickingbutt man wow, what a turnover.
Huh, I mean Northern Illinoisversus where he's at now.
You know, I mean they have alot of receivers who have a lot
of yards.
This ain't just a couplereceivers.
We have like four, five, sixreceivers that are actually
catching that ball too.
Speaker 2 (46:24):
So we can spread that out.
Hey, man, tell me somethinggood, I'm good.
My brother John Foley, memberof the Notre Dame 1988 National
Championship team I didn't meanto cut you off right there, but
that was by accident I reallythink this game is going to be
(46:45):
decided in the fourth quarter,midway through the fourth
quarter, two physical teams whoare not going to give up.
It's all going to be eventually.
Who survives to see midwaythrough the fourth quarter.
And then strategy, somethingstrategic.
Maybe a turnover will determineit, but we love positivity in
(47:08):
this and stories inside the mancave.
Tell me something good, JohnFoley.
Speaker 4 (47:13):
Tell you something good we're going to win.
You know what I mean.
Think about it.
You're nine points.
I mean that's.
I know I keep saying that, butI think our guys are going to
come in, they're going to smackthem in the mouth a lot and it's
going to change that game.
And you know again, when wasthe last time you had such a big
(47:33):
spread in a nationalchampionship game?
Speaker 2 (47:35):
Man, it has been a long time.
I mean, what was Alabama versusNotre Dame?
What was that spread?
I don't remember.
Speaker 4 (47:43):
No, I don't.
Yeah, probably somewhere aroundthere in 2012.
Yeah, that was a big one, I'mtelling you.
I just feel like these kids aregoing to get done.
If you look at the stats, theseguys all play really well
together.
There's no one superstar.
There's a lot of stars I thinkthat's going to be really
(48:04):
important.
A lot of great receivers.
We've got linebackers asleaders.
These captains seem awesome.
They seem great.
They don't seem to play out ofcontrol off the field.
They seem to be pretty much incontrol.
So I think we're going to win.
I think we're going to win andI think it's going to surprise
some people.
But again, ohio state lost fiveweeks ago.
(48:26):
But yeah, I, I I feel greatabout it.
I mean, what do you?
What do you think?
What do you think score?
But yeah, I feel great about it.
I mean what?
Speaker 2 (48:35):
do you think score?
I think it's something like 27to 23.
I agree, yeah, I mean honestlythe Texas game.
I thought the defenses weregoing to rule that game and it
held true.
Yeah, I think Notre Dame, it'sjust.
(49:00):
You've got to be physical withOhio State's offense and put
Will Howard on the ground andsomehow bracket that receiver
from breaking deep Secondary andpass rush.
Have got to play, be on pointfor this game.
Speaker 4 (49:13):
Yep absolutely.
Speaker 2 (49:15):
But I think Notre Dame has it.
I think Notre Dame is.
I think that they ought to usethat attitude, that people still
don't believe in us.
Speaker 4 (49:25):
Absolutely, and I think again, they're well spread
out.
I mean the receivers, I mean Ithink we have, you know we have
a lot of good receivers Now justone or two, so you know a lot
of them can do a good job there.
The linebackers I'm reallyimpressed with.
I mean they seem like a reallygood crew.
What do you think?
Speaker 2 (49:44):
I think there are.
I think people will know whothey are by 10 or 11 o'clock at
night, monday.
Yep, I agree.
Speaker 4 (49:55):
I agree.
I agree.
I mean, it was mid-season, man,something happened, yeah it
just.
You know, I just couldn't getaway from the tube.
You know, before the firstcouple games I was like yeah,
whatever, then all of a sudden,man, they're like oh, these guys
are being a little bit nasty.
Speaker 2 (50:14):
I thought they showed signs when they went to College
Station and beat A&M.
Then I know the loss toNorthern Illinois occurred after
that.
They were learning how to havesuccess.
Then something clicked, andhere we success.
Okay.
And then something clicked, andhere we are.
Speaker 4 (50:34):
Yeah, yeah, and it's.
I mean that was a good PennState team.
Yes, that was a really goodGeorgia team.
All right, I mean we'd be tworeally good teams.
Speaker 2 (50:47):
And Gunnar Stockton may be a better quarterback for
Georgia.
Speaker 4 (50:53):
Oh yeah, absolutely Absolutely.
And you know, if you watchedGeorgia, probably like mid
beginning, fourth quarter, theydidn't seem really driven, they
seemed tired.
Speaker 2 (51:06):
It's possible.
I mean, that's where you'regetting into this 15, 16,
17-game season.
These players aren't used tothat.
I get it In high school.
You play that if you are statechampionship level, but I think
it's different.
I just think injuries mount upand backups are playing who
(51:28):
normally don't.
They're playing more minutesthan they normally do.
Yep.
It's hard.
They normally do.
Yep, it's hard to train for.
Speaker 4 (51:35):
Yep, we just watch and it seems like Notre Dame
gets better as they play fromthe first quarter to the fourth
quarter.
I mean they just get bettereach quarter and that's awesome.
I mean I didn't see them havetwo great first quarters ever.
I mean they do okay, but theyalways seem to come very strong.
Second, third, first is usuallytough.
Speaker 2 (51:55):
And I know the alumni clubs, notre Dame Alumni
Association clubs across thecountry are excited about it.
There's going to be a lot ofwatch parties everywhere,
including here in Austin, andbig shout-out to the Notre Dame
alumni group here in Austin forconnecting John and I and man,
you never know, we may befriends for life now.
Oh yeah, I really appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (52:18):
I'll tell you the last thing about Marcus.
He's going to make all theplayers who played in Notre Dame
their kids are all coming toNotre Dame.
Now.
It hasn't been like that before.
Look at that Cycling back.
Yes, it's all cycling back.
It's amazing and they love thiscoach.
So it's like, yeah, we'regetting a lot of ex-players Kids
are coming back and playing,which are awesome.
(52:38):
So hopefully, you know, keepthat winning going and keep a
great coach here and keepgetting these players whose
parents once played at NotreDame.
So here's a couple guys.
Take that out.
Erlacher is kind of cool.
So I mean, there's a couple ofguys Check that out.
Earl Acker is kind of cool.
I'm a Chicago guy so I'm gladEarl Acker's over there.
Speaker 2 (52:54):
That's cool, he went to New Mexico, yeah.
Speaker 4 (52:58):
I'll say he's a good dude.
I've seen him a lot aroundChicago.
He's a nice guy.
You know I respect him.
Great, tough guy and I'm gladhis kid's here.
I think his so awesome.
Speaker 2 (53:08):
Yes, man, whenever you get a chance to talk about
the college football nationalchampionship, game, two great
blue blood stories Ohio State,notre Dame and meet one of the
true OG tough guys of collegefootball, even though his career
was cut short by injury man, itis like John Foley.
(53:30):
And to talk about the greatstories of the Notre Dame
Fighting Irish, you know what,it's always good to talk about
it.
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