Paul Hornung is right; Notre Dame should lower their academic standards for athletes

            By Kevin Carter, THG Sports

Paul Hornung, former Heisman Trophy winner and Green Bay Packers running back, got himself in hot water with the University of Notre Dame this spring by saying on a radio interview that the school should lower its academic standards to recruit black athletes.

Hornung later apologized and said he meant that academic standards should be lowered for athletes in general.  Despite this apology, the Golden Boy’s comments got him fired from his job as radio broadcaster for Notre Dame’s football games.

This looks like another incident of some old guy shooting off his mouth without thinking, but if one can put aside their racial hypersensitivity, they can find a lot of wisdom in Mr. Hornung’s words. 

Let’s face it: the only reason anyone has even heard of the University of Notre Dame is because of their legendary football program.  Irish fans can rattle off the names of school’s celebrated coaches (Rockne, Leahy, Parsegian, Holtz) without batting an eye. 

How many professors do you think they can name?  If it wasn’t for the football team under Rockne transforming ND into a household name, the university wouldn’t stand out from the other small, private D-III schools in the state of Indiana.

If Notre Dame wants to keep their prestige and draw some of the best minds the country has to offer, they must continue to draw the best bodies—guys that can run, catch, block, and throw the Irish to victory on the gridiron.  They will only do this if they lower their academic standards a bit to let in some of these guys who don’t have eight hours a night to study because they are hitting the weights or are at practice.

It is time for the administrators at Notre Dame to get off their high horses and realize what made the university great—stud athletes who bring home national championships.  If students want a private school with a mediocre football team, they can attend Wake Forest—at least the winters in North Carolina are a lot milder. 

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