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41 yrs ago my 9 year old Son & I entered Notre Dame Stadium with Danny Ford & Team..
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41 yrs ago my 9 year old Son & I entered Notre Dame Stadium with Danny Ford & Team..


Nov 6, 2020, 10:48 AM

on a Friday afternoon to quickly tour Irish Stadium.

WILL & I had arrived by car in South Bend from Greenville SC around 4:30 pm Friday & went to scout out the stadium location so to make getting to game easier on Saturday..

and as we pulled up to the stadium parking lot on that sunny crisp Friday afternoon in Nov 1979 we saw the Clemson Team buses with players & coaches headed into a side door..

so I excitedly ran over & asked Coach Ford if we could go in with them and he said OK and so we all went thru the visiting team locker room and then thru another door that put us into a narrow shaft-like corridor that exposed a view of the field at the far end.

As Danny, Will, myself & a handful of players walked onto the end zone area I exclaimed out loud, purposely, that that hallowed playing field didn’t look any different than any other, and Coach Ford agreed.

It was apparent that these players were in awe & wide-eyed and I knew they might be overwhelmed, as I probably was too, so I uttered out-loud a Dale Carnegie positive-type gesture to “play down” the obvious, we were walking on hallowed ground but it didn’t look any different than ours back home.

While the group walked around and I chatted with Team Physician Dr Hair, my Son took off & up the steps leading to the top seats.

Then as quick as they had entered the stadium the team & coaches left as did Dr Hair..leaving Will & I in that empty stadium.

As soon as I got Will to come down from scouting out the stadium as a 9 year old does, we went back thru the end zone tunnel and up to the heavy metal locker room door, it was locked! I was stunned so banged on it several times but no one opened it!

At that location one could see metal bars at the other end of this tunnel passageway & into the parking lot with a few students passing by with their backpacks headed to classes..so Will & I walked to that end and could see the Clemson Buses pulling away..

and then my 9 year old became a true 9 year old by almost starting to cry and then actually started to yell out for help when he saw a student passing by the iron gate and they would simply look at us with confusion & a non-caring way.

So, I calmed him down and we proceeded back thru the tunnel corridor, back onto the field where I looked around that gloried old stadium so to find a way out.

To be truthful, it was mind boggling that the two of us had this entire stadium to ourselves, but trapped inside it!

At that moment of having a bit of fear myself, I heard a piston-like sound coming from the Notre Dame team’s side but up high..

so we walked that way and up the steps to an exit portal..with the sound becoming closer & closer.

What was this loud sound?

As we continued down this concessions corridor & towards the ear-splitting sound, we could see some people busy doing something..and as we approached them, relieved to see humans, we were amazed that it was a group of NDame equipment students painting the old football helmets with a fresh coat of gold leaf paint..with a generator & paint compressor!

Note: We learned that this was done every Friday after practice so those now scuffed-up golden helmets would be fresh & glisten on Saturday when the Fighting Irish played.

I approached one of the student equipment staff members, explained our dilemma and he said to go thru a nearby door, into the Irish locker room (which had plaid carpet & a Joe Montana display setup) and out an exit door.

Relief & joy at the same time!

What a big away game start for a 9 year old & his 38 year old Dad, both dressed in Orange, to start their first hour in South Bend, Indiana!

But, the next day would get even more exciting..

* While touring the beautiful campus we had 3 NDame students rush towards my Son who was carrying the 1st 3’ x 5’ Orange Flag with large White PAW logo (sold by Batson Co in Greenville SC) on a 6’ pole but they stopped when I yelled at them.

* In the 4th quarter & standing in the end zone with thousands of screaming Tiger Fans and Tiger Team ahead 16-10, a ND student came down the row & quickly snatched from my hand the PAW flag and proceeded quickly past dozen Clemson fans on the our row to head for the aisle steps so to escape..

but I yelled down to the those he was passing (all were standing & yelling so he had more room to get by) and shouted to stop him..

and a man tripped him up at the row end and he fell hard onto the steps at the aisle & onto the flag pole itself, bending it against two steps..and I then jumped on him while he was down and put my extended clenched fist towards his face and said to get the hail away and he jumped up & took off..

while I took the bent pole and placed it over my knee so to straighten out the curved staff and then raised the flag in triumph to the cheers of scores of Tiger Fans around me.

But, when I got back to my my seat, my 9 year old Son was missing and when I frantically looked around and there he was one row up sitting between a couple who had secured him after I had abruptly run off & left him.

We both sat back down and minutes later saw Tiger Team finish & win..then proceeded to jump the wall onto the grassy end zone below & then surprisingly got shoved by the famous Irish Marching Brigade who were headed in our path..but we were wildly screaming & joining hundreds of other gleeful Tiger Fans at midfield..

and the crazy part was the entire Tiger Band Squad has come down onto the field with us and the band director had even placed his ladder to stand on it so to be seen & direct the Band to play Tiger Rag..

and when he saw me waving the PAW Flag, he motioned me to step up to his level on that ladder so I could wave that Orange beauty higher as he waved his baton.

Later I was told that radio broadcaster Jim Phillips was giving the blow by blow of this wild celebratory event live to the fans across the radio network and I’m sure he must have documented this happy scene.

What a splendid time for Lil Ole Clemson & it’s 9000 or so fans allowed to buy tickets, but as I stepped off the ladder my Son said he was tired and hungry..so we left the stadium and headed for a burger & a pay phone call to the wife b/4 heading back down the road to get a hotel an hour or two down the road.

But, when I looked back at my Son who was now in the back loading area of the new 1979 Toyota hatchback & laying on a blanket sound asleep..I decided to keep driving as many of those 12 hours back to Greenville as possible since I was jacked sky high & blowing the horn at other Clemson fans headed the same route..

and at 5 am Sunday morning I somehow made it to Greenville and stopped to buy 5 different newspapers whose headings exclaimed the victory over ND 16-10.

Went home & placed Will in his bed without waking up the Family..and then went into the guest rest room where I actually sat on top of the lid and read all 5 sports pages b/4 crashing.

What a trip for Dad & Son..so much so that we had made full arrangements to celebrate this 41st anniversary of our bonding under the Clemson football banner in 1979 by flying up to South Bend and help the #1 ranked Tigers win again..

but only a deadly Virus could make us cancel, which it did & we reluctantly did. Today we are 79 & 50 years old and still loyal Clemson Fans who still relive this long-ago trip.

Go TiGERS!

PS: Guess you can believe it now why our wonderful AD Bob Bradley called me “The FLAGMAN“ years later after seeing me on the road & at home games from 1977-1992 waving that same PAW Flag high in the air with gusto.

It’s now stored and has several small tears, tiny holes, some mud and blood (from that Domer I believe!) and the original bright Orange color has faded a lot..but not my 41 year old memory of that classic game.

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