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30 Things All Notre Dame Fans Should Do Before They Die

By Joshua Vowles

Oct 11, 2014; South Bend, IN, USA; A general view of the golden dome at the University of Notre Dame before the game between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the North Carolina Tar Heels at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 11, 2014; South Bend, IN, USA; A general view of the golden dome at the University of Notre Dame before the game between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the North Carolina Tar Heels at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports /
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Oct 10, 2015; South Bend, IN, USA; A general view of the Hesburgh Library and Word of Life Mural, commonly known as Touchdown Jesus, before the game between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Navy Midshipmen at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports /
My friend Pat and I (yes, we are both named Pat) looking very cool as we pose for a picture our parents wanted us to take on graduation weekend in front of TD Jesus. Photo Credit: Pat Sullivan
My friend Pat and I (yes, we are both named Pat) looking very cool as we pose for a picture our parents wanted us to take on graduation weekend in front of TD Jesus. Photo Credit: Pat Sullivan /

Touchdown Jesus

Aside from the golden dome atop the Admin building, this is easily Notre Dame’s most iconic symbol.

Titled “The Word of Life” and completed by American artist Millard Sheets in 1964, Touchdown Jesus is a 134-feet-high, 68-feet-wide mural covering one side of Hesburgh Library. It’s made up of over 300 panels made from numerous types of stone sourced from 16 different countries. It depicts saints and scholars through the ages and features a triumphant-looking Jesus at the top, arms raised in the same fashion that a referee would signal a touchdown.

The mural is visible from Notre Dame Stadium, and thus it naturally earned the Touchdown Jesus nickname. It’s a wonderful mural and the area below it includes benches to enjoy a lovely fall afternoon and a shimmering reflecting pool that many freshmen had to run through during dorm hazing activities the morning of the first football game of the season.

Due to its size and location right next to the stadium, you can’t miss Touchdown Jesus as you walk around campus, and you definitely shouldn’t. It’s something that everyone has to go see, and obviously you are required to then take a dopey photo of yourself in front of it with your arms raised, mimicking Jesus. It’s just a rite of passage as an ND fan and something you have to do.

-PS

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