Former Notre Dame offensive lineman Mike Golic Jr. has kept alive a strong family tradition on the football field and in the broadcasting booth. He and his dad Mike Sr., who also played for the Fighting Irish and worked for ESPN for many years, are now part of the popular GOJO podcast with Mike Golic Jr. on the DraftKings Network.
Mike Jr.'s uncles Bob Golic (1977 National Champion defensive tackle, 3-time Pro-Bowler with the Cleveland Browns and television actor) and Greg Golic (offensive lineman) both played for Notre Dame. Mike Jr.'s brother Jake also played tight end for ND before transferring to Cincinnati. His sister Sydney was a swimmer at Notre Dame.
Mike Golic Jr., who was born in Voorhees, New Jersey, joined SportsJam with Doug Doyle to talk about his career. He admits it wasn't easy keeping up such a rich tradition of excellence.
"It took me a long time to get on the field. I was a 3-star recruit coming out of high school. I had all the nepotism tags following me around, some of that doubt creeps in. I ended up with 17 starts there and I hold each and every one of them dearly because there's no one to help you once you're out there. It's you and you had to hold up on your end. You also have to do it for the other ten guys on the field and the over 100 that are on the team with you. I took that challenge really seriously and I took a lot of pride in that. But that last season specifically, getting a chance to being the Day One starter going into the year (2012) and then having all the success that comes. We were a veteran team. We had a lot of guys that had played a lot of football. It was about learning how to win, the attention to detail that is necessary and the sheer volume of work it takes."
Golic Jr. and the cohesive offensive line were responsible for Notre Dame's flourishing rushing attack that gained more than 200 yards a game. The Fighting Irish would go undefeated in the regular season that year, eventually losing to Alabama in the BCS National Championship game.
On December 6, 2012, Mike Jr. was selected to the Capital One Academic All-America Football Team along with his Notre Dame Fighting Irish teammate Manti Te'o.
Mike is enjoying his new GOJO podcast adventure with his dad.
"My dad and I use to break down film with me when I was in high school. There were Saturday and Sunday after games that I didn't necessarily as a 16 and 17-year old want to hear the criticisms or advice my dad had because I was a teenager and I though I knew everything. Now getting to live that relationship in a professional capacity and getting to just enjoy that time together, you start to realize the time you spend with your family and your parents, it's fewer and further between, so we try not to take this stuff for granted. We got to live it once before and we're getting a chance to do it now on DraftKings. It's a really cool thing to spend time with my dad."
On this edition of SportsJam, Mike Jr. weighs on the new college football landscape, the upcoming Notre Dame season and what Aaron Rodgers will bring to the New York Jets this year.
You can SEE the entire show here.
