Jan. 15, 2013
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame and its fan base took South Beach by storm in preparation for the 2013 BCS National Championship on Monday, Jan. 7 at Sun Life Stadium in Miami, Fla. Among those in the mass of people were several notable Monogram winners who did their part to entertain at various happenings leading up to kickoff between Notre Dame and Alabama.
The notable events began Jan. 5 with two gatherings – Irish Player Charities “Rally for ND Scholarships”, BCS Game Pep Rally – that saw countless former Irish student-athletes serving as hosts or speakers. The Irish Player Charities event, coordinated by Rick Mirer (’92, football) and numerous former Notre Dame athletes, welcomed a casual “meet-and-greet” for all those in attendance with over a dozen former Monogram winners serving as hosts.
The list of special guests included former football players Lee Becton, Derrick Mayes, Brady Quinn, Anthony Fasano, Shawn Wooden and Jeremy Akers along with Mirer, former women’s basketball standout Ruth Riley, former volleyball player Angie Akers, former cheerleader Phyllis Stone and former women’s swimmer Haley DeMaria. All told, over 250 people showed up to the three-hour event, with $25,000 in proceeds being raised and contributed to programs that provide partial Notre Dame scholarships to local areas nationwide.
Following the meet-and-greet, this relatively small group joined the throng of Irish fans headed to Ocean Drive for the evening’s Notre Dame BCS Game Pep Rally. As an astounding 20,000-plus people looked on, they were treated to speakers such as Martin Short and Lou Holtz, while former football players and Monogram recipients Pat Terrell and Tony Rice also served as speakers and Mike Golic acted as master of ceremonies.
As kickoff approached, the Monogram Club made its presence felt at one final event, the Notre Dame GameDay Fan Party in Bayfront Park on Jan. 7. Former football players Ricky Watters, Justin Tuck and Luther Bradley served as speakers at the event, which saw over 11,000 fans come out for the four-hour pregame party to get the fans set for kickoff of the 2013 BCS National Championship.
The Monogram Club would like to extend a special thank you to all of those who made the trek to Florida to participate in the various events and support the football program in the BCS Championship.
–ND–