Who’s ready for some Notre Dame lacrosse this year?

With the Notre Dame men’s lacrosse season just around the corner, Drew Brennan here, and I am excited to introduce myself as the newest member of the One Foot Down team. I will be covering our Fighting Irish throughout the spring as they look to bring home the program’s first National Championship in late May over Memorial Day weekend.

First off, I want to thank Josh for giving me this opportunity. I really appreciate it as I have been an avid listener of the One Foot Down podcast (shout out to Jude and Brendan as well) and a follower of the site. I am looking forward to being a part of everything and bringing some coverage of the sport of lacrosse to Irish fans.

Some background on me; I am a University of Notre Dame Class of 2000 graduate, having spent time in Flanner, Morrissey and Alumni Halls. I am married, live in the suburbs of Chicago, and my wife and I are raising our two kids here.

Like a lot of Notre Dame grads, I still have some of my best friends in the world from school and I could not be prouder to be an alum. I am a third generation Domer with my Grandpa graduating in 1927 and my Dad graduating in 1969 (editor’s note: nice). I have had a couple of uncles also attend ND along with some cousins. You can read a little more about my family’s history and love of Notre Dame in this Chicago Tribune article from back in December of 2018.

As it relates to Notre Dame football, I have a deep passion for our team and for those that want to follow along, I do a weekly (in-season) podcast on Spotify, Exit 77, where I talk all things Notre Dame football (and even have my friends join in on the conversation). I started the podcast just before the 2021 season and now have done 48 episodes (soon to be 49 as I need to do my bowl game recap and my Sam Hartman transfer episode).

As for lacrosse, I got my start at Loyola Academy here in the Chicago suburbs where I first picked up a stick in the spring of 1993 as a freshman Rambler. I was looking for an alternative to baseball and I found it...and then some. I played four years at Loyola as an attackman, and as a senior we finished the season undefeated in state play, and the Illinois state champions. Similar to ND, I still consider my classmates and lacrosse teammates from Loyola some of my best friends in the world to this day.

I did not play lacrosse at Notre Dame, but fast forward almost twenty-three years from graduation and you will find that I have a passion for ND lacrosse. I follow the team religiously and try to make it back to at least one game a season in South Bend. My goal here on One Foot Down is to keep you all as updated as possible on the season, provide some analysis of the team, highlight the outcomes of their games and hopefully keep readers entertained.

For a long time lacrosse was a niche sport, and for those who knows its history, there is a deep connection to Native Americans and a warrior spirit. Lacrosse is referred to as the Creator’s Game and is known for its power to heal people and communities. The game has grown tremendously over the last twenty years here in the U.S. and I am looking forward to bringing the Notre Dame lacrosse team and their season to the fans who love the sport. Along with that, I am looking to find some new fans and introduce them to a sport I love. Hope a lot of you join the ride, I am excited to be here and can’t wait for what the team has in store for us this year. Go Irish!