RIP, Harry Oliver
Notre Dame lost a legend on Wednesday when Harry Oliver died at age 46 after battling cancer for the past two years.
“The man who made the most famous kick in Irish football history is dead at the age of 46. Harry Oliver had battled cancer for the past two years. He died Wednesday in his hometown of Cincinnati.”
Oliver made the most famous field goal in Notre Dame history when he booted a 51 yard field goal to beat Michigan in 1980. Youtube has the Michigan and Notre Dame calls f the kick. Make sure to listen to the Michigan call and notice how distraught Bob Ufer was that he messed up the final score twice before finally getting it right with “Notre Dame wins 29 to 27.”
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For a little more on just how special Oliver’s field goal was, he’s an excerpt from Irish Legends.
There were four seconds to play when coach Devine sent in his left-footed field goal kicker, Harry Oliver. Oliver’s longest field goal had been 38 yards in a JV game. Now he was asked to kick a fifty-one yarder against a stiff fifteen mile per hour wind.
Then a remarkable thing happened. Just as Oliver lined up to kick the ball, the wind died down. Oliver calmly stepped into the ball and kicked his way into Notre Dame’s Hall of Fame with a fifty one-yard kick over the crossbar–just as the final gun sounded for the end of the game and a Notre Dame victory, 29-27.
I also came across these classic quotes from Harry Oliver about the kick.
“Behind me was the library with its huge mosaic of `Touchdown Jesus.’ The ball went up and cleared the crossbar by 3 inches. I know that wind stopped at that second, and I’m convinced `Touchdown Jesus’ gave the ball a little nudge to get it over.”
“Everyone was jumping on top of me. Unfortunately my leg got caught up in a weird position, and I started to scream. Joe Gramke, a teammate who also had played at Moeller, started pulling off the people. Then I got out. That field goal was the greatest thrill of my life.”
Frank Vitovitch has been Co-Owner and Editor in Chief of UHND.com since joining forces with Kyle Flavin in 1999. Since that time, he has written over 2,000 articles covering Notre Dame football, recruiting, and basketball. He also works with all staff and external writers on all articles published on UHND.com. Frank's love for Notre Dame football started at a young age watching Rocket Ismail give opposing coaches ulcers in the late 1980's. By day Frank works in marketing and holds a degree in Digital Media from Drexel University. Frank's work has been cited by online/print editions of NBC Sports, ESPN, and Sports Illustrated and has been quoted on air by ESPN's Collin Cowherd. He's conducted interviews with Notre Dame legends Rocket Ismail, Randy Kinder, Lee Becton, Reggie Brooks, Michael Stonebreaker, and Ned Bolcar among others over his 20+ years of covering Notre Dame football. He's also been published in the print edition of USA Today Sports Weekly and the USA Today College Football Preview multiple times. Other Published Works/Citations for Frank Three Reasons Notre Dame Will Beat Alabama - USA Today Notre Dame Suspends WR Kevin Stepherson, RB C.J. Holmes Indefinitely - Bleacher Report Notre Dame / Ohio State Fiesta Bowl Preview - Eleven Warriors Brace Yourself: The Fighting Irish are Relevant Again - Sports on Earth Interviews with the Enemy: A Q&A with Frank Vitovitch of UHND - Yahoo! Sports Five Good Minutes: Notre Dame Football Preview With UHND.com - BC Interruption Vicious Electronic Questioning with UHND - MGO Blog
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I remember the flags going limp just before the kick. Hysteria reigned long afterward. Then, to learn what a marvelous and devout young man Harry Oliver was, had to make you believe in SOMETHING. He also kicked a long field goal that season to salvage a tie with Georgia Tech. His name and his strength of character will never be forgotten by the ND faithful.
Harry was 46. I lived two doors down from him my freshman year and that was my first Notre Dame game. Harry was the kindest, nicest guy you could ever meet.
RIP Harry, harry was 53 not 46
I’m a Nebraska fan, and Notre Dame are bitter rivals. However, Harry Oliver’s field 51-yard field goal will always be seared into my memory. I was 15 years old, and I remember my brother Mark getting into the car with our friends, and saying “Notre Dame won on a last second field goal, 29-27. They went crazy.”