Sept. 1, 2006
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Saturday's College GameDay at 9 a.m. CT on ESPN will include a segment on the legacy of former Northwestern Randy Walker who tragically passed away in June. The piece will feature the first television interview with his widow, Tammy, conducted by ESPN's Chris Connelly. Excerpts include:
On the entire Northwestern football team paying her a surprise visit:
Tammy Walker: "So I opened the door and Joel Howells (Northwestern kicker) handed me a book that he had put together that several of the players had written something about Randy. And he put it in a book, tied it up and put pictures in. And he handed it to me and they sang the fight song. So I was serenaded by 100 guys.... And I just stood there crying and smiling. What a wonderful surprise... They're great kids. Some of them were crying, too. So I know they miss him, too."
On Walker's impact in his players:
Tammy Walker: "One of the players that came through the line after the reception, who they (Randy and the player) had some run-ins while he was here. And the kid had tears streaming down his face. And he said, `It wasn't always good, but I knew it was good for me!'"
New head coach Pat Fitzgerald on dealing with the loss:
Fitzgerald: "Coach talked about dealing with adversity and how to respond and this is the toughest lesson that he's ever taught us. But still, it is a lesson in life and it's time for us to respond, to focus, and to use him as our 12th man, and use the tough times that we've learned through this experience to focus and really continue his legacy."
College GameDay Built by The Home Depot, Saturday, Sept. 2 at 9 a.m., will originate from Atlanta, site of No. 2 Notre Dame at Georgia Tech, which will be aired on ABC at 8 p.m. marking the debut of Saturday Night Football Presented by Southwest Airlines, the first-ever weekly college football primetime series on broadcast television. On September 9, College GameDay will be in Austin, Texas for the second Saturday Night Football telecast on ABC at 8 p.m., No. 1 Ohio State at defending national champion No. 3 Texas.
College GameDay, beginning its 20th season and 13th season of consistently originating from the site of the day's best game, is hosted by Chris Fowler with analysts Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit, and contributor Desmond Howard. It will be aired in a new expanded two-hour format - an additional 30 minutes -- every Saturday at 9 a.m. CT