Oct. 30, 2008
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Former University of Notre Dame football All-American and College Football Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Theismann will serve as the guest speaker for the 88th University of Notre Dame Football Banquet.
The banquet, sponsored by the Notre Dame Club of St. Joseph Valley, will be held Friday, Dec. 5, 2008, in the north dome of the Joyce Center on the Notre Dame campus. A reception and silent auction in the Monogram Room both begin at 5:45 p.m. EST and the dinner begins at 7:00 p.m. EST.
The program will include a video tribute to the 2008 Irish squad – as well as a series of awards honoring members of the Notre Dame team.
Tickets are now on sale at $42 each (a table for eight is $336) and can be ordered at the Joyce Center second-floor ticket window, by phone (VISA, MasterCard or American Express) by calling 574-631-7356 (fax to 574-631-0854), or by writing to Ticket Office, 113 Joyce Center, Notre Dame, IN 46556.
Order forms also can be printed from Notre Dame’s athletic web site by clicking here. Checks should be made payable to University of Notre Dame Football Banquet. Requests must be received by Friday, Nov. 28, 2008. All tickets will be distributed through Joyce Center will call on the concourse on the night of the event (enter Gate 1).
Proceeds benefit the Notre Dame Club of St. Joseph Valley Scholarship Fund.
A 2003 inductee into the College Football Hall of Fame, Theismann played for the Irish from 1968-70 as a 6-0, 170-pound quarterback from South River, N.J. A first-team All-America selection as a senior in ’70 by both the Associated Press and Football News, he ended up runner-up that year in the Heisman Trophy balloting to winner Jim Plunkett of Stanford.
As a senior in ’70, Theismann led the Irish to a 10-1 record and a Cotton Bowl victory over top-rated Texas with its 30-game win streak.
Also an Academic All-American in ’70, Theismann in 1990 was inducted into the Verizon Academic All-America Hall of Fame.
He still holds Irish all-time records for pass completions in a game (33 vs. USC in ’70), passing yards in a game (526 vs. USC in ’70) – and he ranked sixth all-time in career passing yards (4,411) and fifth in career TD passes (31). In his Notre Dame career, he completed 290 of 509 passes (.569) for 4,411 yards and 31 TDs. He also rushed 316 times for 1,043 yards and 16 TDs.
A fourth-round draft pick of the Miami Dolphins in the 1971 NFL Draft, Theismann went on to a Pro Bowl career with the Washington Redskins, playing in two Super Bowls and winning one in 1983. He was selected the NFL MVP in 1983 and the NFL Man of the Year in 1982. He retired from the NFL after the ’85 season (he played 1974-85), having thrown for 25,206 career yards and 160 TDs and rushed for another 1,815 yards and 17 TDs.
He spent many years as an ESPN NFL analyst and also owns a restaurant in Alexandria, Va.
Theismann added another award to his trophy case recently when he was named the 2008 Davey O’Brien Legends Award recipient. The award, which was started in 2001, is given to a quarterback who has made major contributions to the game on and off the field each year.
Theismann, who also was selected as a baseball shortstop by the Minnesota Twins in the 1971 MLB draft, went north to play in the Canadian Football League and threw for more than 6,000 yards and 40 TDs in three seasons.
— ND —