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When I played, athletic scholarships were educational grants, not contracts for hire. I am certain that Ara and his staff had serious doubts about my ever playing football for Notre Dame. My freshman year had been a disaster. Yet because they were stuck with me for four years, they had to use their coaching skills to help me realize my full potential. Ara was a strong supporter of four-year scholarships. “My position,” says Ara, “was that it was a four-year deal and it wasn’t anything other than that, even though the rules changed in 1973.

In the attorneys’ opinion, my background as a former Notre Dame football player was a definite plus, as was the research I had done on how recruitment and subsidization of high school athletes have historically undermined academic integrity. My direct experience with high-pressure recruiting while in high school was also something that could help the tssaa’s case. My one area of vulnerability, and one the attorneys for Brentwood Academy skillfully exploited, was that my experiences as a high school recruit were in some ways quite positive.

During the two weeks of double sessions, I worked my way into the starting defensive end position. Tom Rhoads, my main competitor, had come back overweight and a little out of shape. I am sure that he had spent far more time at the beach than in the gym during his summer break. Just a week or so before the opening game against Purdue, I was in the starting lineup, which meant that for the first time at Notre Dame I had actually earned the right to wear a gold jersey in practice. indd 37 1/23/08 11:58:41 AM 38 COUNTERFEIT AMATEURS be seen whether I had the physical and emotional maturity to handle the stress of wearing the gold.