Notre Dame's Chris Stewart, a 6-5, 350-pounder with traps the size of Virginia hams, certainly merits consideration. Even at that size, the mammoth guard said he can do 20 pull-ups. As impressive as that physical feat is, it's even more jaw-dropping when you consider Stewart could muster only three reps five months ago. That was before the Irish strength and conditioning program was overhauled in the wake of Brian Kelly's arrival. But the real wow factor with Stewart involves a different kind of workload.
This fall, Stewart, who will be a third-year starter for the Irish, is attempting a rare double by playing college football while undertaking the rigors of life as a law school student. Stewart graduated cum laude in December with a degree in history. He took the LSAT and applied to Notre Dame Law School, which isn't an easy place to be accepted into.
"A bunch of it was dependent on my LSATs," Stewart said last week. "My GPA also was a good help, and the fact that I was excelling in my classes and my teachers would give me recommendations.
"I'm in. I wasn't let in. I had to earn my way in. I studied for the LSAT without the months of practice most students have. I had a month and a half. I just had some Kaplan books, worked on the logic games, the arguments, the reading comp, essays and then I had a tutor from the law school and that was it. I must have taken five or six timed tests. They last about four or five hours each. I'm blessed and glad that it worked out."
The Texan said he didn't arrive in South Bend with the goal of attending law school.
"I knew I was going to graduate early because I had come in here with credits," he said. "By sophomore year, I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do. I had two internships in Houston and was exposed to the legal aspect and I enjoyed it."
Stewart worked on labor law at one firm and immigration law at another. Both of those roles involved litigation, he said.
"It was good to see how the law is applicable to real human interaction and how it's not perfect but it tries to be perfect," he said. "I enjoyed it."
Thanks to some advice from some folks at the ND law school, Stewart has taken two law classes already -- torts and a special study on civil procedures and contracts.
This fall, the fifth-year senior won't be taking just one course during football season as some high-profile players have done in the past. Instead, Stewart will juggle a full schedule of law school classes, which might be uncharted territory for a college football player. Notre Dame sports information is trying to determine if there has been another player in major college football who has played while attending law school at the same time.
"I'll be taking a full load," Stewart said. :A lot of people say it's going to be hard, and it's going to be challenging, but I do have the advantage of having already taken two classes, which I made an A and B in."
Stewart said the Notre Dame football community, starting with new coach Kelly, have been very supportive of his challenge.
"I've had a few of them speak to me like Chris Zorich and others who have done law, but it's a little weird because no one has done law and football, so there's no precedent to fall back on," he said. "Even without that, you just plan as best you can, you work as hard as you can and you try not to stress yourself out too much. Football is like my fun, my godsend. When I come to football practice, it's my release. Good day or bad, I'm just happy to be playing football and being able to do the things I'm doing."
Just a few years ago, it sounded like a long shot whether Stewart would finish his undergraduate degree in South Bend, Ind., much less attend law school there.
A former blue-chip recruit, Stewart wasn't sure if Notre Dame was the right place for him. It was 2007. Stewart was in his second year in South Bend. He was a long way from home. He wasn't playing much. The Irish were going through a nightmarish season. He left school and returned home to the Houston area.
"I was on the fence for a variety of reasons," he said. "We weren't doing well in football. I wasn't having an opportunity to contribute to the team, which is what I wanted to do after coming in early and having dropped a bunch of weight. Sometimes this is a hard place to live when you come from as far away as I did. I always tell people it was the transition from being a kid to being a man having to make tough decisions.
"My parents gave me good insight to make my decision. They said they were going to be supportive no matter what as long as I got my education. I really liked my teammates here. There are a lot of good people around here, and it's good to be around them and the degree is a good thing to have. I can say that now in retrospect."
Stewart isn't sure what type of law he'd like to practice in the future. He says he's drawn towards estate planning and wealth management.
"I also like the judiciary side of law," he said. "I'm taking criminal law this fall and we'll see how that goes. I really like contracts."
Asked if someday he might become his own agent in the NFL, Stewart laughed.
"I don't know if I'd represent myself, but who knows?" he said. "Maybe after my career is over, I'll represent some people."
