Gunnar Eide and Jim Kelly

Joe Markley, the famous head coach of Central High School was an alumni of Carleton College in Northfield, MN had arranged for Jim to receive a scholarship at Carleton, but Jim's father, Jack, was a hard driving Irish Catholic, and he had different plans. His son was going to the mecca of college football, Notre Dame, with or without a scholarship. Jim played tackle while in high school, but his father wanted a real star and insisted that he play end when he went to Notre Dame. His two friends Gunnar Eide and Herb Johnson played end. Central won two city championships during Jim's junior and senior years at Cental, and Jim served as senior class president. The Notre Dame saga began seven years earlier when Jack, Jim's father, took him to a Notre Dame football game for his 10th birthday. Index | Previous | Next