April 4, 2001

The Notre Dame football team opened spring practice on March 27 at the Loftus Sports Complex. Throughout the spring, www.und.com will follow the progress of senior flanker Arnaz Battle and senior linebacker Tyreo Harrison.

The following is our third installment with Arnaz Battle including how much his wrist injury impacted the off-season.

With all the time you missed due to the wrist injury, do you feel you have had a lot of catching up to do?

“I have had a lot of catching up to do. I still have a lot of catching up to do. With the injury, I wasn’t able to lift or get a lot of running in during the season. I was only able to ride the bike consistently. It has been a struggle since the injury. I am just trying to get back. It takes hard work every day to get better.”

How has Coach Mickey Marotti (Strength and Conditioning Coordinator) helped you get ready for full contact football?

“He has given me a lot of personal attention. Even with the injury, he helped me with the weight training I could do. As far as speed training goes, I was not able to do a lot of running because of conflicts with classes. This summer is going to be real key for me. I’ll try to lose some more weight and just get in better shape.”

Where were your emotions and expectations after you learned of the severity of your wrist injury?

“It was devastating to know that all the hard work was taken away from me in the snap of a finger. It takes time, prayer, and support from a lot of people to get through the rough times. My teammates helped me as well. In return, I went out to support them and help turn the season around. Now it’s all about improving as a player, and improving as a team for next year.”

Since the injury, how have you been of assistance to the three young quarterbacks in Matt LoVecchio, Carlyle Holiday, and Jared Clark?

“Just by talking to them and being around them. It’s easy to have tension between quarterbacks on a football team, but those guys get along well. I get along with them as well. We’re all one family, so we support one another, especially within the quarterback group. Now being a receiver, I still have to talk to them to make sure they throw me the ball. The relationship is strong, there’s a lot of closeness, but also a lot of competition to be the man on the field.”