Pete “Hands” Demmerle was the embodiment of a Notre Dame student-athlete during his varsity football career from 1972-74, and the epitome of the school’s sprit after the cheering on the gridiron ceased.
In today’s world of “star ratings” for recruits, Demmerle likely would have been deemed no more than a marginal prospect for the major college level. A record-setting wide receiver at New Canaan (Conn.) High School, Demmerle was not from a football hotbed and was considering primarily Ivy League schools during the recruiting process.
But his father, uncle and cousin all attended Notre Dame (as would younger brother, Mark, a 1981 graduate). So when Irish assistant coach Paul Shoults discovered Demmerle at a summer camp in Massachusetts organized by the Notre Dame coaches, he became a part of the 1971 recruiting class – a group Blue & Gold Illustrated rates as the third best assembled at Notre Dame since the end of World War II.
As juniors, this nucleus helped Notre Dame finish 11-0 and capture the national title with a 24-23 victory over No. 1 Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. As seniors, they were 9-1 and set for another potential national championship matchup with 11-0 Alabama in the Orange Bowl. But in the season finale, the Irish blew a 24-0 lead against eventual co-national champ USC in a stunning 55-24 loss. This group’s swan song was the 13-11 upset of Alabama in Ara Parseghian’s final game as head coach.
From 1964-70, Parseghian and Co. developed three All-America passing combinations. First there was John Huarte to Jack Snow (1964), followed by Terry Hanratty to Jim Seymour (1966-68) and Joe Theismann to Tom Gatewood (1969-70). The final such chapter in Parseghian’s career was Clements to Demmerle – although it took a while to mesh.
“I don’t think I ever did break 4.8 in the 40,” said Demmerle in a 1989 interview with BGI. “My success was based upon disciplined patterns, not dropping the football and blocking to the point where the defensive player had to factor me into the equation.
“(Clements and my) relationship in football developed over time…Tom was an extremely talented person with such great vision. I wasn’t the fastest guy in the world, so he was clever enough to scramble around and I could get to my designated spot. He was also clever enough to realize that with my speed, he wouldn’t find me 60 yards downfield.”
Because freshmen were still ineligible in 1971 (the final year of that NCAA rule), the duo began working together for the junior varsity. In the four-game JV season in 1971, Demmerle caught 28 passes from Clements and averaged 18 yards per reception. When the two were elevated to the varsity as sophomores, Clements beat out incumbent Cliff Brown for the starting role, but Demmerle couldn’t even crack the top 3 at split end, where junior Willie Townsend was the starter. In fact, Demmerle spent the first part of the year with the JV team again.
With the Irish trailing 40-0 in the 1973 Orange Bowl against Nebraska, Demmerle finally caught his first varsity pass – a five-yard touchdown from Clements to avoid a shutout.
“If memory serves me, it was a broken play,” Demmerle laughed.
In 1973, Demmerle dramatically ascended up the depth chart and even supplanted 1972 leading receiver Townsend from the starting role. Demmerle credited his rise to two factors: 1) learning to be physical and 2) fierce concentration.
“Rather than spending the winter dreaming about catching passes, I tried to imagine myself blocking,” Demmerle said prior to the 1973 season. “…I know I have a much harder time catching in shorts with my helmet off because I don’t pay as much attention. The helmet is almost a blinder, so it makes me think about what I’m doing and to concentrate on the ball.”
His concentration was so intense, he earned the nickname “Hands” for his ability to grab anything in his vicinity. Perhaps his most remarkable catch came in the 1973 victory over USC, 23-14, to snap the Trojans’ 23-game unbeaten streak. He made a diving catch of a Clements pass when it appeared an interception was imminent. Instead, he contorted his body back to the ball and was parallel with the ground while making a fingertip catch to set up a field goal. Announcers described it as “intercepting the interception.”
That 1973 Irish team was ground-oriented and rushed for a school record 350.2 yards per game (a record that still easily stands), but Demmerle and All-America tight end Dave Casper provided Clements with excellent options in the passing game. Demmerle snared a team-high 26 passes for 404 yards (15.5 yards per catch) and five TDs. In the Sugar Bowl, Demmerle hauled in three straight Clements tosses for 59 yards during Notre Dame’s opening touchdown drive. Later, he caught a crucial two-point conversion to make it 14-7, and it would prove to the difference in the one-point outcome.
The following year, Demmerle earned consensus All-America notice with 43 catches for 667 yards (15.5 yards per catch) and six TDs. A knee injury in his final game dropped his stock and he was only a 13th-round pick of the San Diego Chargers. Tryouts there and with the New York Giants didn’t pan out, so the English honors student and Rhodes Scholar candidate enrolled in law school at Fordham University.
After passing the bar exam in 1979, he embarked on the next phase of his life, joining the famed international law firm of LeBoeuf, Lamb, Green & McRae in New York City while commuting from Greenwich, Conn. He became a lead insurance partner and eventually chaired the Insurance Practice Group. That didn’t mean he still couldn’t be a typical fan.
“I’m usually pacing in front of the TV for every game,” he said back in 1989, while the Irish were in the midst of a record 23-game winning streak. “My wife thinks I’m crazy, but I really enjoy it. I can watch World Series games or NBA championships and they don’t move me. But unless Notre Dame is winning 30-0, I’m nervous.”
In the fall of 1999, he became stricken with ALS, robbing him eventually of his speech and gradually his motor skills, confining him to a wheelchair. Still, he and wife Kate became leaders in the Connecticut chapter of the ALS Society.
When he still had the capacity to type, he sent this e-mail: “I have learned that friendships brighten my day and sustain my desire to participate in life. I have learned from countless acts of kindness from perfect strangers that, on the whole, the human condition is kind and good. For these lessons, I am deeply grateful.”
In 2003, Demmerle was the recipient of the Edward “Moose” Krause Monogram Club Member of the Year Award for his service to the community and his spirit. Accepting the presentation was his oldest daughter, Cara, who was then a freshman at Yale, and recently graduated from the Ivy League school.
Peter Kirk Demmerle is survived by his wife of 26 years, Kate, and their four daughters Cara, Alice, Tessa and Nina, as well as his brother, Mark. A funeral mass in Peter’s honor will be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. May 30 at St. Michael The Archangel Church, 476 North Street in Greenwich. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Peter’s name to charities that support ALS research.
Tom Pagna, Parseghian’s aide on offense at Notre Dame from 1964-74, will also write his recollections about Demmerle this week.
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The following year, Demmerle earned consensus All-America notice with 43 catches for 667 yards (15.5 yards per catch) and six TDs. A knee injury in his final game dropped his stock and he was only a 13th-round pick of the San Diego Chargers. Tryouts there and with the New York Giants didn’t pan out, so the English honors student and Rhodes Scholar candidate enrolled in law school at Fordham University.
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