Waking Up the Echoes

I have wanted to write this piece for a while.  Over the past 5 months, the stories have accumulated to the point where it would be an injustice not to compile and share them here for the folks on Gather.  These are not my stories.  They are accounts found in various media outlets written about a first-year college football coach.  I realize not everyone is a college football fan and may have missed them.

There are people in this world that have an innate ability to significantly and intimately touch the lives of others.  Most do so in relative obscurity, spending a lifetime working to correct social injustices, feeding the hungry or housing the poor without a single newspaper headline.  Others utilize their celebrity to garner greater support for their cause.  There are other, still, who manage to have a profound effect on people's lives on an individual basis despite their celebrity.  Charlie Weis is one of these.

Weis would go on to have an enormously successful first season, finishing the regular season 9-2 surpassing all expectations but his own while leading the team to a berth in next week's Fiesta Bowl - one of college football's top postseason destinations.  What has made this season so special, though, and in my opinion as a fellow alumnus what has truly brought the magic back to Notre Dame football has been the character that Weis has introduced to the program.

Last September, Weis went to visit a young Notre Dame fan named Montana Mazurkiewicz (named after ND alum Joe Montana - who just happened to be Weis' roommate during their days in South Bend).  Montana was a zealous 10-year-old boy with an intense passion for Notre Dame and meeting the new coach would be the highlight of his life.  Just weeks earlier, the boy was told there was nothing more doctors could do to stop the spread of his inoperable brain tumor.  Before he left, Weis signed a football writing "Live for today for tomorrow is always another day," and asked Montana if there was anything he could do for him.  The boy asked if he could call the first play of Notre Dame's next game against Washington - pass right.

Montana died days later, less than 24 hours before kickoff.  Notre Dame's first offensive play of the game found them pinned at their own 1-yard line with a passing play a certain impossibility.  ND's quarterback, Brady Quinn, turned to Weis before running on the field saying "what are we going to do?"  Weis responded, "We're throwing it to the right."  Quinn took the snap, rolled right, and completed a 13 yard pass to his tight end.  Montana got his wish.

A few weeks later, Weis found himself seconds from victory against hated rival, defending national champ, and #1 ranked Southern California in South Bend.  Billed the "game of the century" it amazingly lived up to the hype with several lead changes, close calls, and miracle plays.  After a controversial finish saw USC's Matt Leinart sneak over the goal line with no time on the clock to seal the victory, Charlie Weis walked into the visitor's locker room.  He silenced the celebrating crowd with a simple "Hey fellas!" and said simply, "I just want to wish you luck.  That was a hard fought battle and I hope you win out."  Then he walked out.  He could have complained to the media about the officiating, about how he was robbed and how his team should be preparing for the national championship game right now.  But instead, he took the high road and congratulated his conquerors.

While preparing for the Fiesta Bowl this week, Weis was approached by a young fan and his father, a lifelong Notre Dame supporter.  The young boy just wanted an autograph.  The coach saw the kid ogling his Super Bowl ring and asked if he wanted to try it on.  He let the boy wear it and take some pictures.  Then he noticed that he was wearing his Pop Warner jersey and asked what position he played.  Quarterback.  So he played catch with the kid for a while.  He asked who his favorite player was.  Tom Brady.  So the coach pulled out his cell phone, scrolled through the listings until he came to the one labeled "Brady".  "Let's give him a call."  Just hearing the voicemail message made the young fan's eyes light up.  The point is he could have just signed the autograph and let the kid walk away.  Instead he took 10 or 15 minutes and made it a truly amazing experience for one young fan.

That's Charlie Weis.  There are more stories but all convey the same message.  These aren't charades put on for any present reporters.  They aren't news clippings mass distributed in press releases.  I could talk about Hannah & Friends, the nonprofit organization he and his wife run to improve the quality of life for children and young adults affected by autism and global delays, like his daughter Hannah.

Charlie Weis not only gets it, he lives it.  He is a truly amazing individual whose success on the field only highlights his amazing achievements and the character he displays off of it.  He is a class act not only in sports but in all walks of life.  He's brought his own magic to Notre Dame, and we're all much better off because of it.

Thank you, Coach Weis.