Although I seldom post, I’ve followed this board religiously for more than 15 years. On the day he was laid to rest, I post tonight in hopes that you’ll join me in remembering one of the last fleeting members of Notre Dame’s true golden generation.
He was born Edward Sweeney, but from a young age, he went by “Chuck”- a nod to ND’s 1937 All American End, Chuck Sweeney. He enrolled at ND in 1941, took a brief hiatus to “deal with a little situation over in Europe”, before ultimately graduating in the class of 1947. He was a beloved patriarch, 2x Purple Heart recipient, avid fisherman and devout Catholic, but nothing defined him more than his lifelong love for Notre Dame Football.
For more than 80 years, he hung on every snap- first on radio, later on television. When word of Rockne’s death hit newsstands in ‘31, he recalled a level of hysteria matched only by a presidential assassination. He’d say that the passing of time makes it difficult to fully appreciate Rockne’s place in American history (not just sports history). His first hand account of Leahy’s post-war squads became my measuring stick for the Irish teams of my lifetime. When the talking-heads would ramble on about Miami, Nebraska or SC’s run of dominance, he’d chime in to remind me that, beginning the year he returned to campus, ND went 2 seasons without ever trailing and 4 seasons without every losing a game. He was among the 77,000 in Yankee Stadium for the famed 0-0 tie with Army in ‘46; interestingly enough, he recalled the game as “kind of unremarkable”, never dreaming it would later be considered the Game of the Century. He also never understood why Ara got so much heat for playing for the tie in East Lansing in ‘66, reminding naysayers of Duffy’s own conservative play in the 2nd half. He adored Lou Holtz and shared in the prevailing opinion of this board, regarding his four successors.
Like many of us, he held onto the losses even more so than the wins. He recalled exactly where he was for SC in ‘64 and ‘05 and BC in ‘93. He went to his grave still baffled by the phantom clip in ‘91 and still wondering what McKay said to Anthony Davis and the boys at halftime in ‘74. Over the years, I made sure to prepare myself for his trivia-based phone calls. Pop: “Hi-ya Pal. What happened 100 years ago today?” Me: “Dorais to Rockne, Pop. Changed the game forever”. He’s the reason the first nursery rhyme I ever learned was the Victory March and the first childhood heroes I ever had were known as Famine, Pestilence, Destruction and Death. I imagine the Louisville game will be a difficult one for me, this fall. This season will be my 1st without Pop, but also my first with my newborn son, Ronan Rockne. I look forward to spending the rest of my days sharing ND Football with him, the same way my grandfather did with me.
I’d like to share an excerpt from a letter he wrote to the president of his graduating class, dated January, 13th 1998 (one season into the Bob Davie experiment). It’s nothing overly poetic and I certainly don’t intend to spark a debate about Father Ted’s contributions to ND, but it does nicely summarize a simple sentiment that I know is shared by many of the posters here:
“Thank you very much for the very interesting article on Father Hesburgh. I have always been an admirer and defender of Father Hesburgh. However, one aspect of his devotion to Notre Dame which has annoyed me on occasion is his demeaning of football and its relationship to the School. I remember years ago he was interviewed in the press box during the halftime intermission and he remarked that "it’s only a game, we'll all be back in class on Monday"(or something to that effect). In the article he is depicted as "barely interested in football" and saying "I'm not nuts about it. I certainly don’t cry when we lose." I don’t presume to be as conversant with the history as you are, but I do firmly believe that Notre Dame could not possibly be what it is today without its football heritage. It is wonderful to have a magnificent campus, great physical plant, and to have a superb faculty and academic program, but these situations would never have came into existence without the magnet of football and its mystique at Notre Dame. When alumni(or friends or admirers) meet anywhere at any time the prime topic is not the Laetare Medal recipients, or academics awards, or the prestigious faculty members, or the school's latest ranking among learning and research institutions. It is fine to have all these, but what enables us to afford them? I do not mean to be cynical and I am proud of the accomplishments, as we all should be, but let us never lose sight of what enables us to arrive at this point.
So much for the ramblings of an aging alumnus who did used to cry when the team lost (1938-USC 13 ND 0). I am as proud of Notre Dame and being a part of it as anyone could be. I can(with ease) name the seven Heisman winners, but I don’t think I can name seven Laetare Medal winners. Does that make me a bad person?
If Father Hesburgh was the heart of Notre Dame for 35 years, the oxygen giving life to that heart was football.
Most sincerely,
Chuck”