Three Salvi brothers will experience their dreams come true this weekend, as they transport their football talents from the backyard to Notre Dame Stadium.
The middle of five boys, Brian Salvi is a graduate student who currently attends Notre Dame Law School and plays quarterback for the Running Rebels, a team in the Notre Dame Graduate, Faculty and Staff Intramural Football League.
"Brian plays quarterback in his league, and it's 7-on-7," Dillon sophomore wide receiver Will Salvi said. "It's great watching because I love 7-on-7. It's all passing the whole game, and he makes plays."
Irish junior safety Chris Salvi, the next youngest in the family after Brian, has seen action on special teams in two Notre Dame games this season. Chris transferred from Butler upon the conclusion of his freshman year and proceeded to walk on for the Irish.
"Chris was a very talented high school player, but he wasn't an all-star recruit," Brian said. "So just for him to transfer and make it on the team as fast as he did, I mean now he's getting playing time. We're staring down No. 24 and watching every move he makes to see how he does. When he's made the few tackles he's made in Notre Dame Stadium and his name goes over the PA system, we lose it."
The youngest of the Domers, Will is looking to bring the interhall title to Dillon.
"Watching Will is a lot of fun because he's really good," Brian said. "It's fun to watch him play because when he plays wide receiver and corner, I know he's going to make plays."
Though the brothers will spend the weekend playing on one of college's football's most revered stadiums, their love for football started in their backyard. The brothers fondly remember the games they made up in their backyard as kids.
"My oldest brother is nine years older than me, so whenever we would play any game he was kind of the mediator," Will said. "We made up so many games because we wanted to play football, but we didn't have enough kids to play a real game."
One game the Salvi brothers invented is the Interception Game.
"Basically we ran routes, and you get points for interceptions, points for touchdowns," Will said. "We always played tackle, we never played touch football."
The Salvis have a history of success riding with them into the Stadium.
"There's another family on my dad's side of the family that has four boys, so every year we play football against each other on Thanksgiving in the Turkey Bowl," Brian said. "For about seven or eight years, our family has won."
All three boys are predicting that their family will continue to win, even at Notre Dame Stadium.
"ND wins a close game by less than a field goal," Brian said. "Dillon wins 21-7. I'm very confident that Will will play extremely well."
Playing in the Stadium will only be a first-time experience for Will, as Brian was a member of the Stanford team that won the interhall championship in 2007.
"Just to be there is cool in the first place, even if the stadium is empty other than the people in the gold seats," Will said. "It's cool to see a big bowl around you while you play, and hopefully there will be a big turnout with a lot of people. The more people, the more fun [the game will be]."
