One player recalls:

"In the spring of '42 we were having long, hard workouts every day. The other students had already gone home for Easter break, and we were really looking forward to going. The day before our vacation he called us in and said, 'Lads, I've just received the greatest piece of news. I spoke with Father Cavanaugh and he's agreed to let us stay at Notre Dame and practice twice a day during the break.' All of the players were crushed, but no one said anything.

"We practiced only once on Good Friday-from about six a.m. to 11 a.m. Afterwards, I dragged myself into the locker room and I was bleeding, exhausted, and beaten. I couldn't move. Another player came in and threw down his helmet and said, 'Now I know exactly how Jesus Christ felt one thousand nine hundred and forty-two years ago today.'

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Playing against John "Tree" Adams in practice was no fun. Bob Welch, a reserve guard, recently recalled one particular day playing against him. "It was a very hot summer afternoon in 1944, near the end of a tough practice, that one of the coaches decided that "Tree" Adams and I should go one-on-one. John on offense, me on defense. We went at each other with everything we had. I cannot remember if the whole team looked on, but I do remember that all the linemen were there. John was a better football player than I was, but I was determined to do my best. We were both near exhaustion when Moose Krause, who was calling the hikes, said, and this is exactly what he said, "That-a-boy Welch, you will make Tree an All American.' In spite of myself, I had to laugh and I can remember muttering, 'Yes and I hope I five to see it.'"

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Johnny Lujack tells the story about the day before the tough game with Iowa Pre-Flight in 1943. Coach Leahy desperately wanted to win this game. To get his team in the right frame of mind, Leahy decided to take his players to the gravesite of the legendary Knute Rockne. Lujack describes their strange visit.

 "As the team knelt around the grave Coach Leahy said, 'Lads, bow your heads and say a silent prayer to Rock that he will be with us tomorrow and help us defeat this great team.' "After about a minute, I got off my knees and walked about 10 yards away to the grave of the revered Notre Dame basketball coach, George Keogan, to pay my respects.

 "Leahy raised his head and spotted me at Keogan's grave and said in that disapproving tone we all knew so well, 'John Lujack, this is not the time for that. You get back over here, this is the football season. ' "

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No discussion of humor in the Leahy era would be complete without a "Ziggy-ism."  Zygmont "Ziggy" Czarobski. was a tackle on the 1942-43 and 1946-47 teams, and the team's unofficial jokester and troubadour.  As John Lujack has said, he was the most popular player ever at Notre Dame. Here are two of my favorites:

When an exasperated Frank Leahy felt that the squad needed to return to the basics, he held up a football for all to see and explained, "Gentleman, this is a football." "Hold it, coach," Ziggy protested, "Not so fast!"