In reply to: The broken link: What has ND's football tradition meant to you? posted by Board Ops
Gwynn stated unequivocally that Notre Dame would win, although Florida State had superior players. The reason Gwynn believed Notre Dame would win was the spirit of "winning" on campus. Everywhere Gwynn went on campus, he heard people talk about winning this game. He believed the Irish Spirit would carry Notre Dame to a victory, and he was right.
That spirit of winning, of overcoming insurmountable odds, permeated the campus in 1993. I don't believe this spirit was something new. This was something born of a long tradition of being the underdog and winning despite the odds. Even outsiders like Tony Gwynn could feel this spirit. It's special, unique to Notre Dame, and worth carrying forward to future generations.