Senior nose guard Tyler Stockton is an academic leader for his teammates. A marketing major, Stockton said he enjoys schoolwork and hopes to instill intellectual curiosity in the younger players.
"Working is something I love to do. It's something I've been doing all my life, and I've never stopped doing it," Stockton said. "That's what I want to show the younger kids."
When he was a freshman, Stockton said the upperclassmen mentored him through adjusting to college, which inspired him to do the same for others.
"When I came in, there was always someone there to help me with school, tell me the right way to study and how to be a good person on and off the field, always doing the right thing," he said. "Looking back now, that's what I want to contribute, just being a leader for the younger kids, making sure everybody's on time, making sure everybody's working hard, nobody's messing around, everybody's focused."
Stockton said he hopes his academic journey can serve as a good example for his teammates.
"Coming in, it was hard for me with school, so now it's like school's easy for me," he said. "I need to show [younger players] what it took for me to better myself academically here so they're not going to struggle as they get older."
Stockton said he chose to attend Notre Dame because of the academic quality of the university.
"I decided to come here because I knew that football wouldn't last forever," he said. "I knew that coming to Notre Dame I would get the best degree, meet some of the best people possible and live a great life after football and after school here."
The Notre Dame network was also appealing to Stockton, and he said alumni have been very generous to him.
"Whatever literally you want to do, there's someone that's willing to help you, someone that's willing to show you the ropes," he said. "I only have two weeks off [in the summer] and people are willing to say, 'Come to my office for two or three weeks and I'll show you what I do.' People want to help you out just because you're a Notre Dame student, and there's a big network out there so you can go pretty much wherever you want."
Being a marketing major was an easy choice for Stockton because he said he wanted to follow in the footsteps of his father, who served as executive vice president of marketing at Kerzner International Resorts.
"As soon as I got into college, I knew that I wanted to do something similar to him," he said.
So far, Stockton said he has had internships at Morgan Stanley and hopes to enter an MBA program after graduation.
Stockton's life isn't consumed only by homework and football. He said he enjoys bowling, soaking up the Notre Dame experience and especially video games.
"I'm the greatest at all video games," he said. "You can ask anybody that."
In his downtime, Stockton said he also enjoys hanging out with his teammates who have formed a very close-knit group.
"We've always been close since day one, our class. It starts with our coaches," he said. "They're a close group as well. [Irish defensive coordinator Bob Diaco] instills stuff into us every day, like to better ourselves, have a lot of energy and give a lot of effort. Everyone is out there fighting for each other and doesn't want to mess up for all their brothers."
Stockton said having to leave Notre Dame after graduation will be difficult for him, but he knows his education has prepared him to do great things.
"It was an unreal experience and something I'll never forget," he said. "It was totally worth it coming here, and I hope kids make the right decision when they go through recruiting because [football] is not going to last forever, so you're going to have to figure out something else to do with your life. This school's going to set you up for that."
Contact ToriRoeck at
vroeck@nd.edu
