Notre Dame Football grad assistant remembers grandfather’s impact on the Irish

NOW: Notre Dame Football grad assistant remembers grandfather’s impact on the Irish

ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, Ind. - It’s a sad week for the Notre Dame Football family.

Former halfback Jim Morse died after a battle with cancer.

Morse wasn't just a team captain and Notre Dame benefactor, but the grandfather of defensive grad assistant Max Bullough.

Back in July, Bullough reflected on his grandpa’s legacy and what he meant to the university.

"My grandpa, my grandpa Morse, Jim Morse, is extremely happy, extremely happy because he was waiting for years for one of me or my brothers or sister to go to Notre Dame,” Bullough said. “And we all went somewhere else, obviously, years ago, but no one was happier than my grandpa Morse. And I was very excited to give that to him while he's still here."

Max and his brothers Riley and Byron were all standout football players at Michigan State.

In 2016, ABC57 did a story about the connection between the Bullough and Morse families with both Notre Dame and Michigan State.

Jim Morse played halfback and was a captain on the 1954 team and was even the radio play-by-play announcer for the classic game of the century -- MSU vs. Notre Dame, the 1966 tie game for ABC Radio.

Morse was dedicated to giving back to his alma mater, donating to the Coleman-Morse Center for Academic Support and putting in the field turf at Notre Dame Stadium.

His contributions to Notre Dame will live on in his memory.

Morse passed away on September 28 at the age of 87.


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