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| Uncut sheet of 1993 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football trading cards. |
While preparing to move my family, I came across an uncut
sheet of 1993 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Football Trading Cards. It was almost 20 years ago that my mom
purchased those cards for me. I remember
the exact moment like it was yesterday. The
“Game of the Century” had just ended. Heisman
Trophy winner Charlie Ward just had his attempted game winning pass batted down
in the end zone; #2 Notre Dame knocks off #1 Florida State. Notre Dame was sure to be National Champions
with only Boston College left on the schedule.
I would own an uncut sheet of the 1993 National Champions, the
University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
As an avid sports card collector, I could only imagine what that one day
would be worth. But, we all know how
that story played out. Boston College
would shock the world, defeating Notre Dame, and essentially squashing Notre
Dame’s national title hopes.
I kept those cards hung up in a frame in my bedroom for most
of my adolescent life. I would
occasionally look at them and think about just how close we were that
year. At the start of every year after
that I would (and still do) think, “This is the year.” However, year after year since then has ended
with disappointment. There were years
that were better than others, but overall every season ended with me looking at
those cards, and thinking about what might have been. Coaches have rotated in and out at South Bend;
there have been a number of starting quarterback changes through the years;
excuses made and given; but the one thing that has never changed, was the
renewal of hope I feel at the start of every year. This year, a midst a torturous schedule and
freshman quarterback, is no different.
Notre Dame head coach, Brian Kelly, has a seemingly
unshakeable confidence in freshman quarterback Everett Golson as the 2-0 Irish
head to East Lansing to face their first major hurdle of the season in Michigan
State. And, just as I’ve thought for the
last 20 years, I look at that uncut sheet and think to myself, “This is the
year.” I know what challenges lay ahead on
the Fighting Irish schedule, but seeing those cards reminds me that, good or
bad, anything is possible in college football.
