The Driver Saga
Frank Vitovitch
October 26, 1999

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Notre Dame, Ind - If you haven't heard by now (which is almost impossible if you read the message board here), Tony Driver was lost for the season.  He didn't go down to injury and no he isn't having grade problems.  He was kicked off the team until Spring football for violating a university rule.

Irish Eyes reported on Friday, that supposedly he was caught with a girl in his dorm room later than students are allowed. 

The following is the official parietals policy of ND, as outlined in DuLac:

4. Because a genuine and complete expression of love through sex requires a commitment to a total living and sharing together of two persons in marriage, the University believes that sexual union should occur only in marriage. Students found in violation of this policy shall be subject to disciplinary suspension or permanent dismissal.

5. Students are required to abide by local, state and federal law. Failure to do so may result in disciplinary action.

6. The University has instituted a policy of limited parietal visitation to foster the personal and social development of residence hall students and at the same time respond to the safety, security and privacy needs of students sharing common living space.

Undergraduate residence halls will set their visitation hours within the following limits: visiting hours for guests of the opposite sex are not to begin before 10 a.m. on any day and are not to extend beyond 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights and midnight on other nights. On Saturdays of home football games, visiting hours for guests of the opposite sex will begin at 9 a.m. Overnight parietal violations are considered serious violations, and students who commit such violations shall be subject to disciplinary suspension or permanent dismissal.

The rules are clearly defined above and while some people may charge that the penalty is too harsh, we all have to remember that Notre Dame is a Catholic University who holds morals very high.  Personally, I feel missing 5 games may be a little harsh a penalty but as far as I know he is still allowed to live on campus and in the past some people were not allowed to after an incident like this.

This can also be a case of Notre Dame trying to show people, most notably, the NCAA Infractions Committee, that it is in complete control of their university and that there is no lack of "institutional control."   While the ruling may be unpopular with the ND faithful, small things like this could go a long way in showing people that Notre Dame has it's priorities set straight.

Looking back on this past year, you will notice other incidents where in the past such harsh punishments may not have been dished out.   Brock Williams was suspended for the year for violating team rules.  Eric Chappell was kicked off the team permanently for violating team rules. 

In most cases, especially Chappell's, more information was found out soon after the penalties were dealt out.  So may be the case with Tony Driver.  We are not 100% sure of all the facts yet, and most likely we won't be because the university does not want (like all universities) things like this to be discovered by the press and media.

What we as Notre Dame fans have to do is accept what has happened and trust that the people in charge at Notre Dame know what they are doing.   Every time we turn around it seems there is something else happening at Notre Dame that is very unbecoming.  First it was the whole Dunbar mess, then Brock Williams' run in with the law last year, then Sanson's DUI, then Chappell's selling of tickets, then Lee Lafayette's grades, and now Driver.  In a time of turmoil, the Notre Dame faithful have to trust what the university is doing and remember one thing.  The University of Notre Dame is an institution of higher education, not an institution for football.  If that's what you are looking for, rout for Miami or Florida State.

What will this all mean for the team?  First off, his presence along the goal line and short yardage situations will be missed greatly. He is very hard to stop for less than 2-3 yards a carry which is what he was being used for.   This should mean even more carries for freshman standout Julius Jones as well.   The biggest impact the loss of Driver will have on the team comes in the special teams department.  Driver was the special teams MVP of the first half of the season in my opinion.  He was always the first one down the field waiting to put a hit on the return guy.

What will all this mean for Tony Driver?  Well, it seems like he is taking this well and it seems he realized that he was wrong.  There is a lot of speculation around the Internet especially on this message board, that he will transfer for either this incident or in his lack of participation in the running back rotation.  I personally do not see either of these things happening. 

A move back to the defensive backfield this spring is almost a sure thing.  There is too much talent in the running game to waste Tony there.  He could be starting at safety this year had he not moved back to running back.  He has All American potential in the defensive backfield as a safety.   Having Driver and freshman Gerome Sapp as the two safeties would bolster what looks to be a much improved defensive backfield with the emergence of Clifford Jefferson and the return of Brock Williams next year.

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