Former Notre Dame Star Fanning Happy at TU (from GTR Newspaper)
One gem the University of Tulsa has on its athletic staff can be found in Mike Fanning.
Fanning, who has been on the TU staff for more than six years, grew up in Tulsa and had a standout football career at Notre Dame and in the NFL. People would be amazed with the connections he has. This guy has roomed with people who went on to become actors.
Today, he is a special assistant in administration operations for TU.
“I just do things like help raise money or just whatever they need,” Fanning says. “I will help out on football game days, soccer, etc. I help find cars for coaches from dealers.”
Before going to Notre Dame, Fanning was a standout defensive tackle at Edison High School, where he earned his share of awards and accolades, having graduated in 1971. When recruited, besides the Fighting Irish, OU, OSU, Arkansas and Colorado had also come calling for his services. Making the decision to go to Notre Dame was tough for Fanning, but it paid off.
“To graduate from there and play there,” Fanning says. “It was the greatest thing I ever got to do.”
Fanning also had the privilege of playing for the legendary Ara Parseghian, who was the coach when he attended the prestigious Catholic institution.
“He was the best,” Fanning says of Parseghian. “He’s the best coach I was ever around. He was a way cut above. He was fabulous. He is 92 now. He is just beloved by everybody. I never heard anybody say a bad word about Ara Parseghian. And he was tough though. We had some good teams and some good players, and he got a lot out of us.”
The local native started on the Irish defensive line in his junior and senior campaigns of 1973 and 1974, having made 164 tackles. As a senior, he was an All-America selection by the Walter Camp Foundation, The Sporting News, NEA, Time and was a AP Second-team All-America selection.
The 1973 season was memorable for Fanning because he and his teammates won the national championship after beating Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, capping off an unbeaten season.
A pair of losses kept Notre Dame out of the running in ‘74, but they beat the Crimson Tide again, this time in the Orange Bowl, denying them the championship. With that result, OU, who did not play in a bowl game due to being on probation, was awarded the AP championship.
The wins over Alabama are Fanning’s most memorable games in college.
Fanning was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams as the ninth pick in the first round in 1975. He played eight seasons with them, including an appearance in Super Bowl XIV against the Pittsburgh Steelers at the end of the 1979 season. He would wrap up his NFL tenure with stints in Detroit (1983) and Seattle (1984).
In his lone Super Bowl, Fanning pressured Steelers’ quarterback Terry Bradshaw a few times. Despite that, he doesn’t recall any specific pro-game memorable moments.
“The thing you remember the most are your buddies. You develop all these great friendships,” he says.
When with the Rams, he roomed in training camp with Fred Dryer, who became an actor after his football career. Dryer was best known for his role in the TV series, “The Hunter,” which was popular in the 1980s.
“He was such a great character,” Fanning says of Dryer. “We had a lot of characters on the team. Back then, you had guys stay together on the same team for eight or nine years. Now, everybody is leaving all the time through free agency.”
Fanning has not kept in touch with teammates from his playing days with the Rams, but stays in touch with people from Notre Dame.
One is Greg Collins, who Fanning roomed with in college. Collins, who also played defensive line, was a captain for the Irish and led the team in tackles. He has played in movies such as The Rock, Armageddon, as well as several TV series. Collins plays a police officer in the movie Straight Outta Compton, which is currently in theaters.
Another is Tom Clements, who quarterbacked the Notre Dame teams Fanning was a part. He is now the assistant head coach for the Green Bay Packers.
“He should be a head coach,” Fanning says. “He gets to do their offensive play calling. He has always developed great quarterbacks.”
When the Golden Hurricane played Notre Dame in South Bend in 2010, Fanning went with Bill Warren, a trustee of the William K. Warren Foundation, who is a big supporter of both TU and Notre Dame.
“He gave us orders. ‘We’re going to root for TU. It won’t hurt Notre Dame to lose another game, but if TU could win it, it would be so great for the city,’ and it was. It was great. Tulsa just beat them.”
One gem the University of Tulsa has on its athletic staff can be found in Mike Fanning.
Fanning, who has been on the TU staff for more than six years, grew up in Tulsa and had a standout football career at Notre Dame and in the NFL. People would be amazed with the connections he has. This guy has roomed with people who went on to become actors.
Today, he is a special assistant in administration operations for TU.
“I just do things like help raise money or just whatever they need,” Fanning says. “I will help out on football game days, soccer, etc. I help find cars for coaches from dealers.”
Before going to Notre Dame, Fanning was a standout defensive tackle at Edison High School, where he earned his share of awards and accolades, having graduated in 1971. When recruited, besides the Fighting Irish, OU, OSU, Arkansas and Colorado had also come calling for his services. Making the decision to go to Notre Dame was tough for Fanning, but it paid off.
“To graduate from there and play there,” Fanning says. “It was the greatest thing I ever got to do.”
Fanning also had the privilege of playing for the legendary Ara Parseghian, who was the coach when he attended the prestigious Catholic institution.
“He was the best,” Fanning says of Parseghian. “He’s the best coach I was ever around. He was a way cut above. He was fabulous. He is 92 now. He is just beloved by everybody. I never heard anybody say a bad word about Ara Parseghian. And he was tough though. We had some good teams and some good players, and he got a lot out of us.”
The local native started on the Irish defensive line in his junior and senior campaigns of 1973 and 1974, having made 164 tackles. As a senior, he was an All-America selection by the Walter Camp Foundation, The Sporting News, NEA, Time and was a AP Second-team All-America selection.
The 1973 season was memorable for Fanning because he and his teammates won the national championship after beating Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, capping off an unbeaten season.
A pair of losses kept Notre Dame out of the running in ‘74, but they beat the Crimson Tide again, this time in the Orange Bowl, denying them the championship. With that result, OU, who did not play in a bowl game due to being on probation, was awarded the AP championship.
The wins over Alabama are Fanning’s most memorable games in college.
Fanning was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams as the ninth pick in the first round in 1975. He played eight seasons with them, including an appearance in Super Bowl XIV against the Pittsburgh Steelers at the end of the 1979 season. He would wrap up his NFL tenure with stints in Detroit (1983) and Seattle (1984).
In his lone Super Bowl, Fanning pressured Steelers’ quarterback Terry Bradshaw a few times. Despite that, he doesn’t recall any specific pro-game memorable moments.
“The thing you remember the most are your buddies. You develop all these great friendships,” he says.
When with the Rams, he roomed in training camp with Fred Dryer, who became an actor after his football career. Dryer was best known for his role in the TV series, “The Hunter,” which was popular in the 1980s.
“He was such a great character,” Fanning says of Dryer. “We had a lot of characters on the team. Back then, you had guys stay together on the same team for eight or nine years. Now, everybody is leaving all the time through free agency.”
Fanning has not kept in touch with teammates from his playing days with the Rams, but stays in touch with people from Notre Dame.
One is Greg Collins, who Fanning roomed with in college. Collins, who also played defensive line, was a captain for the Irish and led the team in tackles. He has played in movies such as The Rock, Armageddon, as well as several TV series. Collins plays a police officer in the movie Straight Outta Compton, which is currently in theaters.
Another is Tom Clements, who quarterbacked the Notre Dame teams Fanning was a part. He is now the assistant head coach for the Green Bay Packers.
“He should be a head coach,” Fanning says. “He gets to do their offensive play calling. He has always developed great quarterbacks.”
When the Golden Hurricane played Notre Dame in South Bend in 2010, Fanning went with Bill Warren, a trustee of the William K. Warren Foundation, who is a big supporter of both TU and Notre Dame.
“He gave us orders. ‘We’re going to root for TU. It won’t hurt Notre Dame to lose another game, but if TU could win it, it would be so great for the city,’ and it was. It was great. Tulsa just beat them.”
