Taylor's Tidbits

Memorable Senior Day Moments

Mon, 11/19/07

Someone sent me an email asking me about what fifth-year senior DE Trevor Laws had to say about his last game in Notre Dame Stadium after Saturday’s victory over Duke. After the much-needed and long-awaited win, the heart and soul of this Irish team said, "Standing there, seeing my teammates, (the fans) applauding us, us applauding (the fans), that's going to be burned in my memory to the day I die.” When I read those comments, I knew exactly what Laws meant, as I had had a memorable last day in Notre Dame Stadium as well, although unfortunately with a different result. Anyway, I thought I’d quickly shed some light on it from my perspective, and then get into what I saw on Saturday, and what that means for the last game of 2007 and beyond.

I still remember my last home game in vivid detail. It was Nov. 20, 1993, and we just so happened to be playing a 7 win B.C. team a week after playing in and winning one of the greatest college football games of all time against an arguably more talented Florida State team. As a captain, All-American, Lombardi Award finalist, likely first-round NFL draft pick, certain college graduate, and member of a team that was just 60 minutes shy of controlling its destiny for the National Championship … I had much to be thankful for. We all did. And Senior Day was the day to remember it all.

I was a pretty emotional guy to begin with (still am, actually), and I remember consciously choosing to let go of my pre-game emotions. Instead of “sucking it up”, I decided to take it all in and reflect on a career that, although for very different reasons, was ending with as much potential as it had started with. As senior captains, we always led the team out of the tunnel, but on Senior Day, fellow captains DT Bryant Young, C Tim Ruddy, S Jeff Burris and I were joined by the rest of our senior classmates at the back of the team. The underclassmen, meanwhile, ran out on the field and formed a human hallway in anticipation of our names being read over the loud speaker as we charged out of the tunnel for the last time. I remember B.Y. looking over at me and wondering why in the heck I was crying so hard, but I knew he knew. We had been friends for so long and had seen each other grow so much that I think deep down, he had come to expect it out of me. And although he might not ever admit it, I swear I saw his “allergies” kick in a little bit as well, which seemed to be the rule rather than the exception for most of us on that day. Little did we know that in less than four hours, we’d all be crying again.

Senior Day is unique in that it’s one of the only opportunities in football where players have the luxury of briefly looking back on their careers before they’re actually over. For me, however, the reflection included much more than just the X’s and O’s part of my Notre Dame experience. The emotion came from reminiscing about the freshman Graffiti Dances, SYR’s, summer school shenanigans, dorm room parties with roommates, Calvin and Hobbes cartoons, Saved by the Bell reruns, meatless baked zitis, circus lunches, Yo-Cream breakdowns, anti-parietals strategies, tornado warnings, and snow ball fights. I had grown up while at Notre Dame, and without even realizing it, and before I knew it, it was over.