By John Brice
Special Contributor
Tommy Rees usually cannot see his starting quarterback.
Not on Notre Dame’s ‘Champions Walk’ as the Fighting Irish make their way from pre-game mass inside Notre Dame Stadium on any given home-game Saturday.
So Rees has not witnessed Pyne, omnipresent newsboy cap and dapper suit, part Sonic the Hedgehog, part WWE wrestler so on the verge of spontaneous combustion that Pyne bounces, skips and crashes through the gate and into the Irish locker room before making his way down to the field.
“I’m usually pretty far back, so I have not seen him but it does not surprise me because he’s got, he’s a ball of energy, he’s fired up on gameday and I think a lot of that comes from his preparation and his ability to be ready to go, have supreme confidence that he can get the job done.”
Pyne, as it turns out, typically is channeling a pair of motivational icons perhaps not often linked together: Aristotle and Muhammad Ali.
The two are blended in the “How Great I Am” inspirational video, with Aristotle’s sage missive “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit” precursor to the six-plus minutes of chants, clips and audio fuel.
“I used to do a whole entire routine, the same thing, before every game the past two years that I’ve been here but I kind of just go with whatever I feel that day. There’s a video I always watch called ‘How Great I Am,’” said Pyne, the undersized-but-skill-maximized Irish quarterback who’s helped spark this season’s turnaround. “I used to watch it with my brother (Brendan) in fourth grade, and actually against Clemson, we were on the ‘Walk,’ and I recited, I’ve watched that video forever, and you know the Muhammad Ali speech where he says, ‘And I’m going to show you how great I am!’? I can recite the whole entire thing.
“And the entire walk for Clemson, I was reciting it nonstop. Just stuff like that, being able to kind of hone in on what’s coming.”
Pyne both ran for and threw for a touchdown in the Irish’s upset of then-No. 4 and unbeaten Clemson. He admitted he had been buoyed by the presence of many loved ones along the Irish path into the stadium and found similar inspiration in Notre Dame’s wintry waltz prior to its home finale last weekend against Boston College.
“I have my whole entire family there, plus two aunts and two uncles,” said Pyne, who noted the presence of Tara and Pat Kennelly as well as Sarah and Mark Cuccuini. “I saw my girlfriend and her whole entire family on the walk. Some people I really care about.
“And, plus, just the whole atmosphere at Notre Dame is amazing. Sometimes, you can’t control your emotions. I try to always do that on the field, but I’ve always gotten fired up for games.”
Thus, Pyne fights a dichotic battle.
Exuberance must be unleashed sometime on gameday; a poised command presence requisite on the field.
“I try to play with a lot of emotional stability and I try to play, when I’m on the field, I try to just get my job done and help everyone succeed,” said Pyne, who has supplied the Irish offense with more than 1,800 yards and 21 touchdowns against just five interceptions. “But I think leading up to it, there are some emotions that I can’t have die down, that I can’t control. I think it’s good to be able to control it in the game, but at the end of the day, I’m a really hard competitor, always have been and it’s pretty amazing being able to go on a walk like that into the stadium.
“I remember going to play a soccer game in third grade and listening to music in the car with my mom and just getting fired up before the game. I mean, I just love competing against other people and having a chance to win. I think it’s that and then the atmosphere of Notre Dame makes it 10 times greater. I love competition, it’s just who I am.”
The typically reserved Rees, unafraid to unleash his own emotions and coach the intense Pyne … intensely, has seen the entire Notre Dame team respond to its quarterback.
“That’s,” Rees said, “why the guys love Drew.”