Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2012 Notre Dame Football Preview
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BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2016 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ✦ 53 BY ANDREW OWENS D uring the 2009 and 2010 seasons, while Torii Hunter Sr. was about two-thirds of the way through an illustrious Major League Baseball career, he had a workout partner every morn- ing at 5 a.m. He went through the necessary activities that would both prolong a 34-year- old's career while planting the seeds of suc- cess for another rising star. Current Notre Dame two-way athlete Torii Hunter Jr. was the rare 14-year-old that had a 5 a.m. wake-up call every morning with an All-Star baseball player. He could release his competitive juices while training for future sports stardom with the best possible ex- ample, his father. "He works hard no matter what and a lot of people can work hard the wrong way," Hunter Sr. said. "He wants to know what's the right way to do it, how to do it, and he put work in that way, the right way. I definitely think just him watching me my whole life, working hard, getting up at 5 a.m. to train — he would go with me sometimes and kind of watch me go out and do what I had to do — it rubbed off on him at 14, 15 years old. "He was getting up at 5 a.m. to go train and then go to school. He's always had that work ethic in his blood and I think it's just a learned behavior." Hunter Sr., who retired in 2015 after a career that spanned 19 baseball seasons, and included five All-Star appearances, nine Gold Gloves and two Silver Slugger Awards, al- ways believed in exposing his three sons — all of whom currently play college football — to as many sports as possible. While so many parents and youth coaches steer players toward specializing in one sport, Hunter Sr. prefers the opposite approach. "They played football, basketball and baseball in high school," he said. "I honestly don't think you use the same muscles in all three sports. In football, you use a different muscle, basketball a different one and base- ball is definitely a different one. "When those guys leave football and go to basketball drills, they're sore. It lets you know you're using different muscles. Then you go to baseball for the first week of practice and they're really sore. It allows every muscle to work so you're a complete athlete somehow. That's why I always allowed my kids to play every sport, because I feel like if you use dif- ferent muscles you get more athletic ability." Hunter Sr. also believes in the mental growth that baseball provides. "Mentally you have to learn to accept fail- ure because you're going to fail seven out of 10 times. Three [successful times] out of 10 and you're a hero. You do that in any other job, you suck, you get fired," he said with a laugh. "It makes you strong mentally." *** Hunter Jr. is the rare athlete that not only played multiple sports growing up, but also competes for two varsity teams in college. During the spring, he juggled his responsi- bilities between the baseball season, football spring practice and his academic workload. Each day, he said, began with football workouts at 6:30 a.m., with classes after- wards. Early in the afternoon, he would head to a baseball game or practice. Once that wrapped up, it was time for homework. "Over the last couple of days, actually, I've had a couple guys come up to me and say, 'You had a game yesterday? I don't know how you do it; that's awesome. I appreciate that, and you coming out here and giving it your all, especially when you just had a game yesterday.' It makes me feel good about myself," said Hunter Jr., adding that he tries to find time for 30-minute naps whenever he can. "It shows that they really look up to me and appreciate the fact that I try to give my all with both teams." When the Prosper, Texas, native was being recruited in high school, his family knew they wanted a destination that would allow him to play football and baseball while offering a world-class education. "He actually wanted to play both sports," Hunter Sr. said. "He had several offers from several different schools: Arkansas, Arizona State, West Virginia, [Texas]. You name them. "He had offers, but he saw Notre Dame and he was such a great student in school that we wanted to challenge his mind. It wasn't all about football and baseball, it was about getting a great education from a school like Notre Dame." Baseball head coach Mik Aoki calls Hunter Jr. an "unbelievably mature kid" and a "tremendous human being." It's not always easy for the head coaches that might want a talent like Hunter around 100 percent of the time, but they appreciate the commitment he has shown to both sports. "[An outsider] can't even begin to some- how quantify this," Aoki said. "In terms of what they have to do, it's really pretty remark- able. At Notre Dame, it's not like they're taking a lesser academic course load. They're still taking five classes per semester. None of those classes are online classes like they are popping up at so many universities across the country. "It's really unbelievable. Only people who are holding down like three full-time jobs During this past spring, Hunter Jr. would begin his day with football workouts at 6:30 a.m., then attend classes, participate in a baseball game or practice in the afternoon, and do his homework at night. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA