Published Jul 21, 2009
Weis gets his wish: ND-Army in Yankee Stadium
Tim Prister
IrishIllustrated.com Senior Editor
Notre Dame versus Army doesn't stir much enthusiasm among today's modern college football fan.
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But for old timers and those who are familiar with Yankee Stadium's history of hosting college football, Notre Dame versus Army renews a legendary tradition that began in 1925.
On Nov. 20, 2010, Notre Dame and Army will meet on the gridiron for the 50th time. Twenty-two previous match-ups occurred in "The House That Ruth Built." No. 23 will take place in the $1.5 billion new Yankee Stadium, which could be called "The House That George Built."
Yankees Principal Owner George M. Steinbrenner approves of Notre Dame versus Army in the new Yankee Stadium, and if he didn't, current Irish head coach Charlie Weis wanted to float the idea past him just in case.
"Two years ago in spring training, my son Charlie and I went as guests of the Yanks," said Weis Monday at the Yankee Stadium press conference to announce the Notre Dame-Army pairing in 2010.
"One of the highlights of my visit was a brief meeting with Mr. Steinbrenner in his office. I'm from New Jersey, so we had a chance to talk a little different. I was given a free pass.
"I said, 'Hey, Mr. Steinbrenner, you've got this new stadium going up. You're not going to have Notre Dame and Army scheduled for your first football game?' I didn't know if there was any impact from that conversation. To have a meeting with the boss was beyond my wildest dreams.
"But here we are, two years later, sitting here and it has come to fruition. We couldn't be any more proud to be playing the first football game next November against a high-class opponent like Army."
Asked how Steinbrenner responded when he suggested a Notre Dame-Army game in Yankee Stadium, Weis said, "He laughed. I don't think he's used to people busting his chops."
Also on hand for the announcement Monday was first-year Army head coach Rich Ellerson.
"To have these three icons of American culture—Yankee Stadium, Notre Dame football and West Point—alive and well, together again in the 21st century, speaks to the constancy in these troubled times and is reassuring," Ellerson said. "I'm thrilled to be a part of it."
Notre Dame and Army, perennial college football powerhouses throughout much of the first half of the 20th century, first played in Yankee Stadium in 1925. In fact, the series continued in Yankee Stadium through the 1946 season—22 straight years—with the Irish winning 14 times and the Cadets winning five. There were three ties. The last game between Notre Dame and Army in Yankee Stadium was played in 1969.
"As we all know, Yankee Stadium, the venue, brings into play such names as Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle, (Derek) Jeter and Bernie (Williams), Paul O'Neill…" said the Yankees Chief Operating Officer, Lonn A. Trost.
"Yet such names are not the only names that made fame and history and tradition (in Yankee Stadium). Such names as Knute Rockne and Johnny Lujack, Doc Blanchard and Glenn Davis…They all had a part in making Yankee Stadium what it was, and all pointed to the reason this (new) stadium had to be built this way, that this venue had to be as glorious as it is to allow us to bring back college football.
"While we're all familiar with July 4, 1939 when Lou Gehrig stated that he considered himself the luckiest man on the face of the earth, there were other statements uttered at Yankee Stadium. Phrases such as in 1928 when Knute Rockne reportedly said at halftime, 'Win just one for the Gipper.' It wasn't only Ronald Reagan who made that famous and part of the English lexicon.
"Yes, Yankee Stadium is the home of the New York Yankees. But Yankee Stadium is the venue that has also been the home of boxing and pro football, and a major home for college football, especially Notre Dame and Army."
Hal Steinbrenner, son of George and the Managing General Partner of the Yankees, recalled his father's love for the game of football and his desire to see Notre Dame and Army together again in the new Yankee Stadium.
"My dad, like many of us, is a great fan of college football," Hal Steinbrenner said. "He played at Williams (College), he coached at Northwestern, and when we first floated this idea past him and told him that Notre Dame and Army were interested, he was very excited and very eager to get a deal done.
"He reminded me of several things over the last month. One, just how great and rich this rivalry has been over the course of the last 100 years between Army and Notre Dame. He also reminded me of the fact that 22 of their close to 50 games took place right across the street at the old Yankee Stadium.
"It is an honor and pleasure and it's very exciting to us, even though it's been a long time—I guess 40 years since the last time they played there. We're going to bring it across the street to this brand new facility that we're very proud of."
Asked if he had explained to his players the significance of Notre Dame playing Army in Yankee Stadium, Weis said he hadn't. But he referred to an Irish player—presumably senior left guard Eric Olsen who played at Poly Prep Country Day School in Brooklyn—who was a bit disappointed at the timing of the game.
"He said, 'You mean to tell me we're going to play in Yankee Stadium and I'll be graduated?'" Weis laughed. "He wasn't very happy with me. He asked if he could sit the year out."
The Notre Dame-Army game will be the second of the "neutral site home games" for the Irish. The first takes place on Oct. 31 of this season when the Irish "host" Washington State in the San Antonio Alamodome.