Former ND running back Eric Penick reunited with iconic football 50 years later
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (WNDU) - Members of the 1973 Notre Dame football team are in town this weekend celebrating 50 years since winning the national championship, and one member of the team got together with a South Bend man who had something of his for the last 50 years.
When the Irish hosted USC on Oct. 27, 1973, Notre Dame running back Eric Penick took a handoff and ran 85 yards for a touchdown to give the Irish a 20-7 lead that they never relinquished. Penick was met in the end zone by Dan Szakaly, then 17 years old, who came away with the ball after he wrapped his arms around the running back.
Szakaly hid the ball in his coat and held onto it for the next 50 years. But on Saturday morning, the two men met again and Penick finally got his ball back.
It was the perfect moment for Penick, who loved this weekend’s 50-year reunion with his teammates.
“All of us were 18 at one time, but now we are all in our seventies,” Penick said. “And we may not come together again, so I wanted to be here for that. It is special.”
Both men were thrilled to have the ball back where it belongs, and Penick plans to give it back to Notre Dame.
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