The Irish Way: Nate Montana Among Eight Irish Football Athletes Arrested

No one ever said that coaching the Notre Dame Fighting Irish was easy.

Aside from the constant pressure, the recruitment to a school with aged tradition at a cold weather campus, and the legends you follow, Brian Kelly has another obstacle to overcome.

College life.

As the old saying goes, "Nothing good happens after midnight." At 1:52 AM early Saturday morning, South Bend Police responded to a call about a fight at a party.

Of course, unsurprisingly at a college party that has gotten out of control, drinking was involved.

But, the 44 people arrested at the party weren't your run-of-the-mill college students. A total of nineteen student-athletes were among those arrested.

One of those players has a very recognizable name. The former Irish quarterback great and arguably the best quarterback in NFL history, Joe Montana, isn't a proud parent at the moment.

His son, a recruit and being groomed to potentially be the next Irish quarterback, Nate Montana, was one of the eight football players arrested for underage drinking. Nate is 20 years old.

For those of you unfamiliar with the underage drinking policy, for the most part, it's a slap on the wrist. It can be erased after a predetermined amount of time or by taking a class. However, for the most prestigious (at least in the alumni's mind) university in the country, it can't just be a slap on the wrist.

So, what are Brian Kelly and the Irish brass going to do with this situation leading up to the football season? Suspensions are definitely in order. Two of the players are starters, two are young budding stars at guard and receiver, and one quarterback: Montana.

This doesn't deserve being kicked off the team, barring a repeat offense by one of the players. A half or full season suspension is also inappropriate. However, at least one to two games looks like the probable punishment.

Brian Kelly has yet to make a meaningful statement on the situation, but we'll be anxious to what conclusion he reaches about his team's debacle. This is a precedent-setting decision and statement looming, so look for this story to continue to build until the suspensions are handed out.

UPDATE: My article source that gave me the information for this article was incorrect in one fact of the case. Dayne Crist, previously mentioned in this article as one of the arrested players, was not in fact arrested with this group. My apologies for the inaccuracies. Thank you.

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