2021 Vintage Notre Dame Fighting Irish Football Calendar
This year's calendars feature Fun Facts, one per month, located at the bottom of the grid page
January In 1922, sportswriter Grantland Rice penned this famous passage in the New York Herald: “Outlined against a blue, gray October sky, the Four Horsemen rode again.” This referred to the four Notre Dame running backs who decimated the Army football team in New York. Afterwards, the now infamous picture of the players on horseback at a local stable was picked up by the national wire service.
February Notre Dame is home to a wide variety of alumni who went on to become famous athletes, entertainers, and politicians. A short list includes former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, TV talk show legends Regis Philbin and Phil Donahue, and professional athletes Carl Yastrzemski, Joe Theismann, and Joe Montana.
March University of Notre Dame's colors, which are now blue and gold, were originally blue and yellow; blue to represent truth and yellow to represent light.
April Before the curmudgeonly Fighting Irish Leprechaun mascot we know and love today, University of Notre Dame's mascot was an Irish Terrier dog that went by the name of Clashmore Mike, dating back to 1930. The Leprechaun was named the official mascot in 1965. University president Rev. Matthew Walsh officially adopted “Fighting Irish” as the Notre Dame nickname in 1927.
May Every residence hall at the University of Notre Dame has a chapel.
June The Golden Dome that sits on top of the Main Building on the Notre Dame campus is covered in 23.9 karat gold leaf. Under no circumstances are students allowed to walk up the steps of the Main Building. Superstition says that you will not graduate if you do so. Therefore, it is a tradition to take a picture on the stairs on commencement day.
July The architecture of the South Dining Hall on the Notre Dame campus is reminiscent of a medieval guild hall, which reminds many people of Hogwarts School from the popular Harry Potter novels. This resemblance prompted Notre Dame food services to host the first Harry Potter-themed dinner in 2009, now an annual tradition.
August Notre Dame is one of only three schools to boast seven Heisman Trophy winners: Angelo Bertelli (1943), Johnny Lujack (1947), Leon Hart (1949), Johnny Lattner (1953), Paul Hornung (1956), John Huarte (1964), and Tim Brown (1987).
September The Notre Dame football team has six former coaches and 46 former players enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame. No other university has had more players inducted than Notre Dame. The same holds true for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, which has 13 former Notre Dame players inducted - the most of any school.
October The 1993 film Rudy is an iconic sports movie that tells the story of Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger, who overcame many obstacles to play football for the University of Notre Dame. At a game at the end of the movie, Rudy sacks the quarterback – or was he lined up in the neutral zone and thus offside for what should have been a penalty discounting the play? After further review, the play stands!
November The Band of the Fighting Irish marching band was founded in 1845 and is the oldest college marching band still in existence.
December One of the most anticipated annual college football rivalries features the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and USC Trojans. They have met 91 times since 1926 and Notre Dame leads the all-time series with a record of 47-36-5. The trophy awarded to the winner of this game is called ”The Jeweled Shillelagh.”