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Five old Notre Dame Football photos on a Good Friday — when the spirit moves you

A sacred place

By Joshua Vowles
NCAA Football - Tennessee vs Notre Dame - November 5, 2005 Photo by Matthew Mitchell/WireImage

Happy Good Friday everyone! Last week I started kicking around a few different ideas for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish offseason. I have access to thousands and thousands of photos, and will never use a small fraction of those on this site — but I want to, and I’m going to give it a solid shot as a way to bless the beginning of the weekend throughout the offseason.

So let’s go!

Holy Grounds

Many consider Notre Dame Staium to be sacred and holy ground for college football fans. Whether or not that’s hyperbole — or even blasphemy — is something I’ll leave to you to decide, but this photo of a priest sitting all by himself in the House That Rockne Built certainly gives off that kind of vibe.

Watching The Fighting Irish Practice
Portrait of an unidentified priest as he sits alone in the stands at Notre Dame Stadium and watches the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team during a practice, Notre Dame, Indiana, 1952.
Photo by Leonard McCombe/The LIFE Images Collection via Getty Images/Getty Images

God, Country, Notre Dame

The most inspiring building on campus may not be the Golden Dome or Notre Dame Stadium — but the Basilica of the Sacred Heart.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish
SOUTH BEND, IN - 1960S: General view of the Sacred Heart Basilica church on the Notre Dame campus circa 1960’s in South Bend, Indiana.
Photo by Collegiate Images via Getty Images

A Place of Peace

You’d be hard pressed to find a former Notre Dame student to not have the Grotto listed as one of their top two places on campus. Even on a Notre Dame football Saturday, the atmosphere at the Grotto is peaceful, quiet, and spiritual.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish
SOUTH BEND, IN - 1954: General view of the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes on the campus of Notre Dame circa 1954 in South Bend, Indiana.
Photo by Collegiate Images via Getty Images

Say your prayers

Prayer on the battlefield is an ancient rite that continues to be a prominent form of preparation in today’s version of the gladiator games. Tom Zbikowski, shown below, is as much of a Notre Dame football throwback as we have seen in the past 20 years. The Polish boxer from Chicago laying it all out on the field inside Notre Dame Stadium... excuse me as my emotions explode.

NCAA Football - Tennessee vs Notre Dame - November 5, 2005
Tom Zbikowski of Notre Dame says a pregame prayer before taking the field at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana on November 5, 2005.
Photo by Matthew Mitchell/WireImage

Father Ted

I won’t cheapen Father Hesburgh’s memory with a joke or a pun. I’m putting this right here to remind people that standing up for those that have been oppressed and looked down upon is exactly what Christ wants us to do. Love y’all... you can do it.

Theodore M. Hesburgh
President of Notre Dame University Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh sitting in his office.
Photo by Frank Scherschel/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images

See ya next week!

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