Brady Quinn, Tony Rice, Joe Montana.
People pay attention to who the Notre Dame quarterback is.
Johnny Lujack, Paul Hornung, Tom Clements.
Sam Hartman, on campus since early January and fresh off an exam in Professor Fitzgerald’s New Testament Theology class, faced the media for the first time this week and appeared already comfortable in his new role as Notre Dame football’s latest “most interesting man,” and hopeful heir to a legacy.
“The locker room here is incredible. I feel like I just jelled right in and built some relationships that will be lifelong.” He said during a 15 minute sit down with about a dozen sportswriters.
Joe Theisman, Daryl Lamonica, Angelo Bertelli.
After five seasons at Wake Forest, and a run that included 48 games played, 38 wins, 110 touchdown passes and nearly 13,000 yards passing, Hartman felt that the experience of adjusting to a new place, would enhance his NFL resume. “Coming to a new place, having to learn a new group of guys, learn a new offense, take charge, take a leadership role, take a following role, and everything in between, is kind of like a mini NFL jump.”
Hartman’s focus however is not all on the NFL, “Once I stepped foot in here, it’s not about, ‘is this going to help me’, it’s more, ‘is this going to help the Irish win on Saturdays’. That’s the whole game right now. The NFL stuff takes care of itself.”
John Huarte, Kevin McDougal, Gus Dorias.
Hartman has moved quickly to build relationships with not just his teammates but with his new coaches as well. On getting to know his new offensive coordinator, Gerad Parker he said, “I’ve enjoyed just getting to know him….I met his kids, fished at his house actually this past weekend. It’s building that trust, building that confidence that he’s going to call the right play,”
Relationship building with brand new quarterback coach, Gino Guidugli also is well under way, “He’s very sharp. He’s very personable. We’ve jelled really well in a short amount of time….the quarterback room is fired up.”
Ralph Guglielmi, Bob Williams, Frank Carideo.
Coming to Notre Dame for the rare opportunity presented to play a sixth year of College Football, is clearly something Hartman relishes. “There are very few opportunities (to play football) and the opportunities come and go very quickly.”
Jimmy Clausen, DeShone Kizer and Jack Coan.
In a football season, Hartman observed, “there are a lot of great moments, that I wanted to be a part of.”
Those moments of course, are what that will ultimately define Hartman’s ND legacy.
Rick Mirer, Terry Hanratty, Ian Book.
Sam Hartman? Your destiny awaits.
