Great article on Thom Gatewood

[HDK]

Thom Gatewood // Strong of Heart // University of Notre Dame

Profiles of Notre Dame Athletics

strongofheart.nd.edu

I'm sure I'm like many of us on this board in that I sneak peeks at YouTube videos of old Notre Dame games. I happened to stumble on some boring video of the 1971 MSU-ND game and was reminded that Gatewood, who used to go by Tom but added an H later in life, was a senior on that team. So a guy who was an All-American receiver with Theismann throwing him the ball suddenly found himself being called on to be a decoy and blocker because Parseghian overhauled his offense to reflect the strength of his roster and relied much more on the running game, even employing the wishbone.

There are a couple of posters, one in particular, who like to remind us over and over again about how the Notre Dame administration cheats us fans and doesn't bother to field a good "product," as though we are talking about an NFL team and not a university we love and respect..

Read this article and maybe you will begin to see a glimmer of what Notre Dame means to us old dinosaurs, who really believed we could field excellent teams made up of excellent men.

 

[wiu86]

Great article indeed. Well worth the read!

 

[NWfor3]

Thanks for the article about Thom Gatewood!
If you hit the "Other Football Profiles" link at the bottom, there are a bunch of articles about many ND players, coaches, etc.
I just read the one about Dr. Brian Ratigan. I had the great opportunity to meet Dr. Ratigan when our sons played AAU ball for the same program. Great guy!

 

[Drinking The Green Koolaid]

That is a great story, HDK, thanks for sharing it. Gatewood, Theismann, and Alan Page were 3 of my favorite ND players as a kid. All 3 of them have been class acts and great representatives of ND.

I didn't know that Gatewood hid the fact that he was playing HS football from both of his parents. Too funny. Nor did I know that George Young was a powerful and influential figure in Gatewood's life and in leading him to ND in the first place.

Today we take for granted blacks and other minorities playing in college sports programs, but those were very different times when Page and Gatewood suited up for ND. Both men were very much trail blazers.

Here is another story on Gatewood that gives a good sense of what he went through to play at ND:

Thom Gatewood: the Power of Vision

fightingirish.com

Thanks for bringing back some good memories, HDK.

 

[Drinking The Green Koolaid]

Thanks for the article about Thom Gatewood!
If you hit the "Other Football Profiles" link at the bottom, there are a bunch of articles about many ND players, coaches, etc.
I just read the one about Dr. Brian Ratigan. I had the great opportunity to meet Dr. Ratigan when our sons played AAU ball for the same program. Great guy!

Thanks for the suggestion on the profiles of other players and coaches. I just read the one on Gerry Faust. Despite how things turned out for him at ND, he still loves the place and is still an irrepressible optimist. It was a nice read.

 

[Patrirish]

That is a great story, HDK, thanks for sharing it. Gatewood, Theismann, and Alan Page were 3 of my favorite ND players as a kid. All 3 of them have been class acts and great representatives of ND.

I didn't know that Gatewood hid the fact that he was playing HS football from both of his parents. Too funny. Nor did I know that George Young was a powerful and influential figure in Gatewood's life and in leading him to ND in the first place.

Today we take for granted blacks and other minorities playing in college sports programs, but those were very different times when Page and Gatewood suited up for ND. Both men were very much trail blazers.

Here is another story on Gatewood that gives a good sense of what he went through to play at ND:

Thom Gatewood: the Power of Vision

fightingirish.com

Thanks for bringing back some good memories, HDK.

Aubrey Lewis was THE “trail blazer” arriving at Notre Dame about a decade before Allen Page.

 

[burmafrd1943]

Thanks for the suggestion on the profiles of other players and coaches. I just read the one on Gerry Faust. Despite how things turned out for him at ND, he still loves the place and is still an irrepressible optimist. It was a nice read.

Gerry Faust is a wonderful person. a true ND man to the end despite how things went.

 

[burmafrd1943]

Thom Gatewood // Strong of Heart // University of Notre Dame

Profiles of Notre Dame Athletics

strongofheart.nd.edu

I'm sure I'm like many of us on this board in that I sneak peeks at YouTube videos of old Notre Dame games. I happened to stumble on some boring video of the 1971 MSU-ND game and was reminded that Gatewood, who used to go by Tom but added an H later in life, was a senior on that team. So a guy who was an All-American receiver with Theismann throwing him the ball suddenly found himself being called on to be a decoy and blocker because Parseghian overhauled his offense to reflect the strength of his roster and relied much more on the running game, even employing the wishbone.

There are a couple of posters, one in particular, who like to remind us over and over again about how the Notre Dame administration cheats us fans and doesn't bother to field a good "product," as though we are talking about an NFL team and not a university we love and respect..

Read this article and maybe you will begin to see a glimmer of what Notre Dame means to us old dinosaurs, who really believed we could field excellent teams made up of excellent men.

Ara did not have a top guy ready to replace Theisman; Clements came a year later. So Gatewood did not have anyone to really get him the ball.

 

[Rockne's Rambler]

Aubrey Lewis was THE “trail blazer” arriving at Notre Dame about a decade before Allen Page.

Yes, Aubrey Lewis was one of my favorites.