Last week, Sports Illustrated named New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady as the Sportsman of the Year. The choice was largely a cumulative honor for Brady's accomplishments over the last four years, during which he has won three Super Bowls.
My choice as Sportsman of the Year, however, isn't far from Tom Brady's name for most sports fans - my choice is credited with making Brady into the quarterback he is today.
Notre Dame football coach Charlie Weiss was a deserving choice as Sportsman of the Year.
His accomplishments as Notre Dame football coach alone would be enough to merit consideration. Under Weis, Notre Dame's offense went from inept to powerhouse, scoring 30 points in 10 of their 11 games and scoring 40 points six times, tripling the amount of times the Irish put up 40 in the previous three years combined.
However, Weis has also shown remarkable character in the process of turning Notre Dame into a powerhouse.
In September, Notre Dame took on Willingham's Washington Huskies. Earlier in the week, Weis visited a dying 10-year-old, Montana Mazurkiewicz, who was named after Irish legend Joe Montana. Weis allowed the boy to call the first offensive play of that week's game. Montana said "pass right." This put Weis in a pickle after Notre Dame recovered a Washington fumble at their own one-yard line, a place where passing is risky at best and hopelessly stupid at worst. However, Weis didn't hesitate. He told Brady Quinn that he had "no choice" and ordered him to call a pass to the right.
Quinn did, hitting his tight end for 13 yards and a first down.
After the Irish won the game, Weis sent a game ball, signed by all the players, to Montana's family. Sadly, the boy had passed away the day before. But the promise kept was not lost on Montana's mother, who praised Weis in a tearful ESPN interview for keeping his promise even in his tight situation.
Weis showed his remarkable character again after Notre Dame's legendary battle with USC in October. After the 34-31 defeat, Weis took his son, also named Charlie, to the USC locker room. The coach took a couple of steps in and congratulated USC's team on winning a "hard-fought battle." Weis also said he hoped the Trojans would win out. When asked about it the next week, the coach said, "It's easy to be gracious when you've won a game. It's tough to do it when you've lost - and I thought that was a good lesson for my son."
Later in the year, rumors began to circulate regarding Weis' possible return to the NFL. The rumors came from an NFL.com writer who admitted later he had not talked to Weis' agent, the coach himself or anyone at Notre Dame to verify the story. Still, Weis felt obligated to end talk of his bolting Notre Dame, so he signed a gargantuan 10-year contract extension, making him the highest-paid coach in college football. Weis said later he wanted to be at Notre Dame until his son, who is 12 years old, graduates from the university, something he had been saying since the day he arrived.
There can be no doubt - after the special season he has had with Notre Dame - Charlie Weis is a great coach. However, Weis has shown time and time again this season that he is, even more importantly, a great man.
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