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BURLAGE: Notre Dame Stadium Open For Business

Perhaps the headline on the press release perfectly summed up recent developments: “Welcome Home.

In arguably the best news since the pandemic took hold and put everything on hold for about 15 months — outside of a win over top-ranked Clemson last season — the Notre Dame Athletic Department announced Wednesday that after consultation with its local health department, all 77,622 seats inside of Notre Dame Stadium will be filled for the 2021 football season.

“We can’t wait to welcome the Notre Dame family back to campus next season,” University director of athletics Jack Swarbrick celebrated in a written statement.

Perhaps more importantly to many, Swarbrick added, “In addition to a full capacity crowd, we are optimistic that conditions will allow us to resume outdoor game-day traditions, such as tailgating, football player walk, Midnight Drummers’ Circle and Football Fridays at the Eck [the Frank Eck campus baseball stadium].”

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And while Swarbrick and other university leaders encourage coronavirus vaccinations for attendees in the release, this story is in no way intended to take or separate sides.

This story intended to celebrate how Notre Dame student-athletes handled their pandemic protocols well enough last season to finally reach this point this season, often under their own blind sacrifice.

Perfect? Of course not.

For reasons impossible to capsulize — carelessness potentially being one of those — Notre Dame put its 2020 season on the brink after two games last September when 39 players were isolated or quarantined. The Wake Forest date was postponed and all football operations suspended for about two weeks.

“It has always been an evolving situation,” Irish head coach Brian Kelly said upon the suspension of the Sept. 26 game against the Demon Deacons. “We’re learning things daily about how to attack the virus …”

And learn they did.

A program loaded with smart and responsible young men — complemented by demanding leadership that thrives on personal accountability under Kelly — suggested when spring ball was cancelled that experience and reliable depth were two critical elements to surviving the pandemic predicament.

And returning a three-year starting quarterback, the most experienced offensive line in the country and a bundle of veteran and graduated defensive players provided the perfect formula.

The recipe held, not only on the field during an undefeated regular season and a second trip to the College Football Playoffs in three seasons, but off the field with each Irish student-athlete making individual sacrifices to help the whole.

When Kelly outlined during pandemic lockdown how necessary his team’s “traits” and “process” and “accountability” would be to help navigate uncertain times, all of it sounded like rhetoric and coach-speak.

Well, that common-sense approach has Notre Dame ready to welcome a full house and a full game-day experience this September to put its 24-game stadium winning streak on the line during a tough seven-game home schedule that includes prime-time games against USC (Oct. 23) and North Carolina (Oct. 30), along with a difficult tilt against Cincinnati (Oct. 2).

The Irish need to win its first four home games (Toledo, Purdue, Cincinnati, USC) to tie the home-field winning streak (Frank Leahy, 1942-50) and then beat North Carolina to break it.

Some coronavirus protocols will remain in place at the stadium.

Notre Dame announced in early April that the University will add coronavirus to its vaccine requirements for the upcoming 2021-22 school year for students and staff — a list that already included hepatitis B, meningitis, measles, mumps, rubella, tetanus, chicken pox and flu.

“In light of the policies Notre Dame has already adopted requiring all students, faculty, and staff to be vaccinated before returning to campus for the 2021-22 school year,” Swarbrick said as part of his attendance statement, “we encourage that everyone attending a game this fall be vaccinated.”

Vaccine or no vaccine, that’s an individual choice.

But we all should unanimously agree that Notre Dame’s caution-over-valor approach to handling pandemic protocols kept last season’s playoff run together and finally brings all of us together inside of Notre Dame Stadium.

Following is a link for 2021 Notre Dame ticket information: https://und.com/tickets/

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