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Touchdown Jesus Paperback – April 17, 2008

by Scott Eden (Author)

9

Since the time of Knute Rockne, fans have been drawn to Notre Dame for reasons that go far beyond the normal allegiances. Just as Ohioans root for Ohio State, Los Angelenos for UCLA, Catholics everywhere root for Notre Dame. Over the decades their devotion to team and institution has become a religion in ways that exceed metaphor. Millions in number, these modern-day fans treat the Notre Dame campus as a pilgrimage site, and six times a year, for each home game, the action moves from the profane to the sacred. For the fans, Notre Dame has become a symbol of the American immigrant bootstrap ethos of hard work, of the Catholic faith, and of the notion that the two entwined can only produce the good life. Touchdown Jesus is the intimate chronicle of Notre Dame's 2004 football season as seen through the eyes of a fan base unlike any other.

A tapestry of vivid character portraits and descriptive narrative, Touchdown Jesus explores this phenomenon and reveals the story behind one of the highest-profile head coach firings in the history of college football. When the story begins in September 2004, it had been sixteen years since the Fighting Irish had won a national championship, and eleven years since the team had even been a contender. The Irish were coming off their third losing season in five years, a span of failure that had sparked fears of permanent decline. Over the course of the season, the target of the fans' angst grew to include not only head coach Tyrone Willingham, but also the caretakers of the university, whom many fans believed were sacrificing football to the prerogatives of an elite academe. As the losses piled up, the arguments for and against Willingham went to the very core of the identity of the university and its fan base: the pressure to win, the Christian ideal, and the uniquely American role of big-time athletics in higher education -- Notre Dame football at the center of it all.

Borrowing its title from the celebrated mosaic of Christ the Teacher that adorns the south facade of the university library and overlooks the football field, Touchdown Jesus is the story of faith and fanaticism and a university struggling to maintain elite football, elite academics, and traditional Catholicism -- each an imperative, without any room for compromise.

Print length

368 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Simon & Schuster
Publication date

April 17, 2008
Dimensions

6 x 1 x 8.75 inches
ISBN-10

1416599207
ISBN-13

978-1416599203
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Scott Eden is a 1997 graduate of Notre Dame. He lives in Chicago. This is his first book.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Simon & Schuster (April 17, 2008)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 368 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1416599207
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1416599203
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.3 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1 x 8.75 inches

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Aaron C. Brown

Eight years later, worth rereading

Reviewed in the United States on July 7, 2013

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Unlike the other reviewers, I did not read this book due to any interest in Notre Dame or its football team. I picked it up when it came out for some insight into Ty Willingham, who was just beginning the first of four disastrous seasons as head coach of the Washington Huskies (in fairness, Willingham inherited an 1-10 team that has not managed a record better than 7-6 since 2001, before, during or after Willingham). At the time it struck me as a well-researched and well-written book about a minor (in the overall scheme of things) event, the 2004 Notre Dame football season and the firing of head coach Willingham.

However, parts of the book stuck with me over the years, to the point that I decided to reread it. I discovered a depth that I had missed the first time around. The author paints some indelible portraits of representatives of wealthy alumni/trustees, highly educated priest/administrators living under vows of poverty, tough children of poor Catholic immigrants, a massive nationwide network of subway alumni and their Internet communities and upper-middle class students with the SAT scores to get into Notre Dame.

The most surprising part is how many intimate personal interactions there are among these representatives of radically different socio-economic groups: the New York beat cop who pals around with the President of Notre Dame, the widow from Chicago in the Notre Dame football Hall of Fame simply for being a fan, the high-ranking priest in his 60s shooting hoops in the gym with kids in their teens and early 20s and the unlikely close friendships formed over beers in the parking lot before the game, and in Internet forums. This is not an alliance of disparate groups to support a common ideal, this is an integrated community.

Touchdown Jesus is firmly anchored in this micro-analysis supported by personal interviews, which gives it authority when it reaches out to discuss the Catholic immigrant experience in America, the development of professionalized college football and the politics of running a world-class university with a strong religious character attached to one of the most famous and profitable athletic teams in the world.

I recommend this highly even if you have little interest in Notre Dame or college football or anything that happened in 2004. In 1967, a Catholic University graduate student named Eliot Liebow decided to hang out on 11th and M Street NW in Washington for 18 months, and write a book about the people he met. The result, Tally's Corner , remains a classic not because anyone still cares about people and events of a random street corner 46 years ago, but because Liebow's close observation and writing skill managed to make sense of large issues starting from a narrow focus. Scott Eden has managed something similar in this entertaining and enlightening work.

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T. G. Howell

Great job of describing why Notre Dame is different.

Reviewed in the United States on May 8, 2006

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While Notre Dame haters will probably not care for this book, both fans of ND and those interested in college football in general will find it both fascinating and entertaining. By presenting stories of fans from around the country, as well as the historical conext of Notre Dame football, Mr Eden does a wonderful job of explaining how Notre Dame, warts and all, came to occupy a unique spot in college football: A small catholic university in the midwest with unparalleled football success and a truly national fan base.

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D. Angelotti

Changing ND in the Internet Age

Reviewed in the United States on June 8, 2006

First, I have to admit for clarity that Scott's book includes about 1 page about my brother and I. I also signed the C4C (if you don't know what that means, read the book). So I guess that makes me biased.

Following the 2003 season, I didn't think I would face a worse situation than what unfolded in 2004. Bad losses to good teams, even worse losses to bad teams and the eventual misfirings on trying to land the "savior" coach at ND. In a phrase, it was a CF.

Now, through the writings of Scott, I relived that season but through the eyes of others who maybe lived and died a bit more with the game of ND football than I. Going in I thought the book was going to be a more factual account of what happened in 2004. But Scott does more than tell the facts - he tells the story behind the facts. Through meeting subway alums and their history and the role that the Internet played in bringing change to ND football, this book tells a good story.

If you are not a ND fan, you might find this book limited in its contents. However, if you suffered through the past 10 years of ND football, then you must read this book. You will have a renewed passion for Our Lady.

Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2007

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This book is highly recommended for anyone who wants an understanding of the Notre Dame football fan experience from the perspective of a recent alum.

If you have not attended a game in South Bend, this book will make you feel as if you have never missed one.

The pull of the place to folks who have never attended a class at any University is attempted to be put in words....It is a must read for a College Football fanatic.

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