By Joe Garner
If you could find a way to bottle the Notre Dame spirit, you could light up the universe.
—former Notre Dame quarterback Joe Theismann
The tradition, mystique and history that defines the University of Notre Dame football program is unmatched in college sports. What is it, specifically, that makes this program so legendary?
The answers are contained in three-time New York Times bestselling author Joe Garner’s new book, Echoes of Notre Dame Football: Great and Memorable Moments of the Fighting Irish (Sourcebooks MediaFusion; ISBN 1-57071-763-X; $49.95; 176 pages), which captures the legend and lore of this football program and gets to the roots of this storied team through broadcasts, play-by-play and original photos.
Garner spent hundreds of hours interviewing former Irish athletes, broadcasters, university officials and historians to create this definitive volume of Fighting Irish football history. Through intensive research in South Bend, Garner also uncovered thousands of never-before-seen photos that bring the reader right back to the moment. Each chapter also features original gameday programs and original ticket stubs—memorabilia that brings the more than one hundred year history and spirit of Notre Dame football to life.
Echoes of Notre Dame Football includes the broadcasts of Notre Dame’s most exciting moments on two audio CDs narrated by Notre Dame alumnus Regis Philbin. Known for his support and enthusiasm for Notre Dame, Philbin captures the spirit of the Notre Dame family as well as the excitement and anticipation felt in Notre Dame Stadium each gameday Saturday.
Garner highlights the most popular themes in Fighting Irish football history— sacrifice and legend. Among the exciting moments are:
- The legend of the Four Horsemen
- The controversial 10-10 “Tie of the Century” for the National Championship
- Pat Terrell’s last minute, game-saving leap that stopped Miami’s chance to pull ahead and preserved the Irish victory over the hated Hurricanes
- The special green jerseys donned to inspire strength and determination
- The great 75-year rivalry between Notre Dame and the University of Southern California
- Ara Parseghian’s final season, capped by an Orange Bowl upset of undefeated, top-ranked Alabama
Avid Notre Dame fan Martin Sheen provides a stunning reading of Grantland Rice’s famed Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse article at the beginning of Echoes of Notre Dame Football.
Ara Parseghian, celebrated coach of the Fighting Irish for 11 seasons and the second-winningest coach in Notre Dame’s history, provides the foreword to Echoes of Notre Dame Football. The former No. 7 Joe Theismann, who led the Irish to back-to-back Cotton Bowl victories, provides the afterword.
Football fans no longer have to wait for Saturday afternoons to experience the magic and wonder of the Fighting Irish!
About the Author
Joe Garner is the New York Times bestselling author of And The Crowd Goes Wild, And The Fans Roared and We Interrupt This Broadcast. A 20-year veteran of the radio business, his expertise on the media’s coverage of major sporting and news events has been featured on Larry King Live, Weekend Today, CNN and NPR’s Morning Edition. Garner’s books were also bestsellers in the Wall Street Journal, Publishers Weekly and USA Today.
Regis Philbin is the Emmy Award–winning host of the hit television shows Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and Live with Regis and Kelly. He is a Notre Dame alumnus and received an honorary doctor of laws degree for his contributions to Notre Dame and South Bend.