Taylor's Tidbits

ND Football Banquet Speech

Fri, 12/7/07

I’m sitting in Room 205 of the Ivy Court Inn and Suites thinking about what in the heck I’m going to share with the audience at 87th ND football banquet. I’m a little distracted as I write because my thoughts immediately go back to a time when this place was called the Jamison Inn and was the 48-hour home to myself and twenty or so other recruits that were thinking about coming to Notre Dame.

We were all so young then, so full of hope and potential. We had all won awards and been the best on our team, yet somehow our egos got checked for inquisitive questions and funny anecdotes about personal mishaps on the field. We were all “the man” and we knew it, yet most of us didn’t feel the need to brag about it … no more so than any other cocky seventeen your old who was on top of the world.

Yet, for as much fun as we were having, we knew we were there on business and had some tough decisions to make. Now that I think about it, it was probably the first tough decision that most of had had to make, and I remember being a little nervous and feeling some pressure about making the right one. As recruits, we were bombarded with a surge of information and solicitations the moment our senior years started. First came the letters, then the practice/game visits, followed by awkward phone calls by pushy coaches that often asked questions like, “So you think you have what it takes to come to XYZ?” Aside from the awkwardness, though, it was fun (and an honor) to know that there were big time schools interested in actually giving us a scholarship. My first letter was from the University of Washington, and I’ll never forget the gold embossed lettering at the top of the letterhead. I still have that letter and all of the others I received in a box in my garage. It was a special time in all of our lives.

I had always been a pretty independent kid with a knack for choosing quickly and correctly, but with so much riding on the line, and with so many choices, I knew that the decision on where to attend college would probably take a little more time. I was wrong. Notre Dame had started winning me over almost immediately, and looking back, I really didn’t stand a chance against the serene campus, the warm and friendly people, a stellar graduation rate, and Circus Lunch. In the end, it really came down to the fact that my gut was telling me that this place had a good vibe, and had learned early on that my gut was to be trusted. And so I did.

For many, the decision on where to go to college is not so easy, however. I realize now, some nineteen years later, that my decision to attend the University of Notre Dame was maybe the most important of my life, (I just stopped and reflected for a full five minutes and could not think of anything that Notre Dame has not influenced in my life since I stepped foot on campus). Wow. Anyway, it will be from this place of appreciation and gratitude that I will speak, and thus, I’ve just decided not to write an official speech.

Instead, I will speak from my heart and trust that I will find the appropriate words to convey just how remarkable Our Lady’s University is.

And somehow, my gut tells me that my latest hasty decision will prove to be the right one as well.
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p.s. last night I had a great dinner at Parisi’s with Jeff Jeffers of WNDU/Westwood One fame, and he shared something with me that I thought I’d share it with you. He said, “Aaron, you didn’t go through Notre Dame ... Notre Dame went through you.” Indeed it did. And so did the lasagna.