Aug. 14, 2015
Chicago Blackhawks vice president and general manager and University of Notre Dame graduate Stan Bowman and longtime NFL and former Irish football standout Tim Grunhard will be inducted Sept. 16 into the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame.
The annual induction ceremonies will take place at the Hawthorne Race Course in Stickney/Cicero, Illinois. Proceeds from the event benefit the Standing Tall Charitable Foundation and Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame Charities.
Grunhard will receive the George Connor Lifetime Achievement Award.
Bowman, a 1995 Notre Dame graduate with degrees in finance and computer applications, has been with the Blackhawks for 14 years beginning with the 2000-01 campaign. He has played a major role in the team’s three Stanley Cup victories in 2010, 2013 and 2015. After originally working in hockey operations, Bowman became the Chicago general manager in July 2009 and added the title vice president a year later.
Bowman and the Blackhawks are slated to return to Notre Dame’s Compton Family Ice Arena for preseason training in September.
Grunhard played offensive guard for the Irish from 1986-89 (Lou Holtz’s first four seasons as Irish head coach). He’s a Chicago product after starring at St. Laurence High School in Burbank, Illinois, and went on to start 164 games at center over 11 seasons for the Kansas City Chiefs through 2000. Originally a second-round NFL draft pick in 1990, he won Pro Bowl recognition in 1999.
At Notre Dame, Grunhard started at guard as a junior and senior-helping the 1988 Irish team to the consensus national title. He starred on Notre Dame offensive units that ranked 11th nationally in rushing in ’88 (258.0 yards per game) and eighth in ’89 (287.8). He won second-team All-America recognition as a senior in 1989 from Newspaper Enterprise Association.
Grunhard spent six seasons as head football coach at Bishop Miege High School in Shawnee Mission, Kansas, winning the 2009 Kansas Class 4A state crown, and later served two years (2012 and ’13) as an assistant coach on the Kansas staff of former Irish head coach Charlie Weis. He’s currently the offensive line coach at Bishop Miege.
Grunhard and Bowman join a long list of Notre Dame representatives in the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame-including Norman J. Barry, Pete Bercich, Rocky Bleier, Terry Brennan, Tony Carey, Dave Casper, Connor, Ziggy Czarobski, Dave Duerson, Jerry Groom, Paul Hornung, Jim Johnson, Moose Krause, Bob Kuechenberg, John Lattner, Elmer Layden, Frank Leahy, Ara Parseghian, John Paxson, Nick Rassas, Knute Rockne, Jim Seymour, Dan Shannon, Father John Smyth, Gene Sullivan, Tom Thayer, Renaldo Wynn, Tom Zbikowski and Chris Zorich.
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