Eric Penick joined his teammates from Notre Dame football’s 1973 national championship team back on Notre Dame’s campus in 2023 for the 50th anniversary of the magical season for the Irish.
Less than two years later, Penick died at 71 on April 16. He died from complications of a clostridioides difficile infection, according to Stephen Alexander, who cowrote “A Notre Dame Man: The Life, Lore and Runs of Eric Penick,” with Penick. The book was released in 2023 just months before Penick reunited with so many of his former teammates.
Penick, a Cleveland native and product of Gates Mills (Ohio) Gilmour Academy, emerged as Notre Dame’s leading rusher during the 1972 season, but he’s best remembered for some pivotal moments in the 1973 season. Penick was responsible for one of two Irish touchdowns in Notre Dame’s 23-14 win over USC that ended a 23-game undefeated streak for the Trojans. Penick gave Notre Dame a 20-7 lead in the third quarter with an 85-yard touchdown run. He took a handoff from quarterback Tom Clements, followed pulling blocks from linemen Frank Pomarico and Frank Pomarico and used his track speed, which won him five state titles in high school, to outrun the USC defense.
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Penick helped Notre Dame defeat Alabama, 24-23, in the Sugar Bowl on Dec. 31, 1973, which led to the Irish being named national champions by the Associated Press. Penick’s 12-yard touchdown run gave Notre Dame a 21-17 lead late in the third quarter. He finished with nine carries for 28 yards in the title-earning victory.
An ankle injury Penick first suffered in that Sugar Bowl ended up limiting his final season with the Irish in 1974. He ended his three seasons at Notre Dame with 238 carries for 1,327 yards and 12 touchdowns. The Denver Broncos selected Penick in the 13th round of the 1975 NFL Draft, but he was unable to sustain a professional football career.
Penick, who studied economics at Notre Dame, worked in financial consulting and with United Lending Partners before retiring. Penick also became a preacher after spending several years in prison.
Penick, a father of eight children, became diabetic and had to have his left leg amputated in 2022. That didn’t stop him from returning to Notre Dame in 2023. His time on campus for the USC game, which Notre Dame won 48-20, included being gifted the football from his famous touchdown run against USC from a fan who took the ball from Pennick during the celebration.
“All of us were 18 at one time, but now we’re all in our 70s, and we may not come together again,” Penick told WNDU in 2023. “So, I wanted to be here for that. … Yeah, it is special.”
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