Paul Hornung
*On this date in 2004, white-American football player Paul Hornung made a racial comment about Black students.
The former Green Bay Packers star said his Alma Mater, Notre Dame, needed to lower its academic standards to "get the Black athlete." "We can't stay as strict as we are as far as the academic structure is concerned because we've got to get the Black athlete," Hornung said. "We must get the Black athlete if we're going to compete." This happened during a radio interview in Detroit on WXVT-AM before the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame banquet.
The following day, Hornung said in the AP interview that he changed his mind after being flooded with telephone calls from friends and the media. Expressing regret, he said, "I was wrong. What I should have said is that for all athletes, it is really tough to get into Notre Dame. I rethought it, and if I had to do it over again, I wouldn't. What I should have said was, for all athletes, it's very tough to get into Notre Dame."
