July 19, 2009

Notre Dame, Ind. – Notre Dame Monogram Club President JOE RESTIC will return to the football field as a member of the Notre Dame Football Legends in Japan this weekend.

The former Notre Dame football Academic All-American was scheduled to travel to Tokyo as a member of the official party for the Notre Dame Japan Bowl, but will now play a more integral role in the unique game on Saturday, July 25. Restic will suit up again as a cornerback and punter under legendary head coach LOU HOLTZ when the football alumni team takes on the Japanese senior national team at the Tokyo Dome. The event is endorsed and supported by the Notre Dame Monogram Club.

“I’ve really enjoyed being back out there on the football field again,” said Restic after the team’s fifth practice at LaBar Fields. “I’ve also learned that football is a game to be played by young guys, but it will be fun to spend a week in Japan on the team and also making connections for the Monogram Club.

“I had heard so much about coach Holtz and to be around him and see how he motivates players and brings out the best in them has been impressive. I would have liked to have played for him.”

Restic, the son of legendary Harvard football coach Joe Restic, Sr. (’70-’93), came to Notre Dame in the fall of 1975 from Milford, Mass., and was a four-year letterwinner as a punter and free safety. His 209 career punts rank second in Notre Dame history while he still holds the Irish record for punting average in a single game (51.6 yards), after booting five kicks for 258 yards vs. Air Force in ’75.

Restic was a starting safety while helping Notre Dame to win the 1977 national championship during his junior season and went on to graduate in ’79 with a pre-professional science degree. He received his doctorate in dental medicine from the University of Pennsylvania in ’85 and received certification from the orthodontic residency program at Oregon Health Sciences University in ’88.

Now an orthodontist with his own practice in Wilsonville, Ore., Restic has served in three previous roles with the Monogram Club, first during the customary three-year term as a member of the board of directors before returning to the board as secretary and then as Vice President.

While playing three seasons in the United States Football League (’83-’85), Restic also pursued his career in dentistry and orthodontics. His professional football career actually was related to his shift to the west coast, as he played in the USFL with the Breakers franchise that was based in Boston before moving to New Orleans and then Portland. Restic was attracted to the Oregon area and resumed his medical studies in that part of the country when the USFL folded in ’85.

CBS College Sports Network, the original 24-hour sports network, will broadcast the Notre Dame Japan Bowl to a nationwide audience in the United States on Monday, August 10 (9:00 PM, ET; taped 7/25/09) as part of the Network’s “Countdown to Kickoff Week” programming. For more information on the Notre Dame Japan Bowl 2009 and the Notre Dame Football Legends, visit www.NDJapanBowl.com.