The story about Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis letting Montana Mazurkiewicz, a dying cancer patient and rabid Notre Dame fan call his opening play against the Huskies is pretty touching.
Montana never got to see the play. He died Friday at his home. Weis heard about the death and called Cathy Mazurkiewicz on Friday night to assure her he would still call Montana’s play. “He said, ‘This game is for Montana, and the play still stands,”‘ she said.
Montana had called “pass right”, and Weis complied, even though Notre Dame was in a situation where a run would’ve been more prudent: the Irish succeeded in completing a tough one out of their own end zone for a 13 yard gain.
Weis called her again after the game, a 36-17 victory by the 13th-ranked Fighting Irish, and said he had a game ball signed by the team that he wanted to bring to the family on Sunday.
“He’s a very neat man. Very compassionate,” she said. “I just thanked him for using that play, no matter the circumstances.”
Well done, Charlie.
While I was rooting for (and had a small financial stake in) an Irish victory, I can’t help but wish that the poor lad had called this:
The halfback pass, maybe with a double reverse thrown in there too for good measure.
