Peter Mulroy is loyal to the University of Notre Dame’s football team, which won one for the Gipper in the 1920s and is undefeated this season as it practices for Saturday’s game against Syracuse University at Yankee Stadium.
The basement in Mr. Mulroy’s house, on Staten Island, is a shrine to the team, with banners and photographs celebrating the Fighting Irish. He talks proudly about once high-fiving Rudy Ruettiger, the former Notre Dame walk-on famous for sacking a quarterback during the final seconds of the only game of his college career. Mr. Ruettiger’s story was the basis of the 1993 movie “Rudy.