Mike Courey
Encyclopedia
Michael J. Courey was an American football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 player and a starting quarterback
Quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...

 for the University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team is the football team of the University of Notre Dame. The team is currently coached by Brian Kelly.Notre Dame competes as an Independent at the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision level, and is a founding member of the Bowl Championship Series coalition. It is an...

.

Mike Courey was born to a teenage mother in Watertown, South Dakota
Watertown, South Dakota
Watertown is a city in and the county seat of Codington County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 21,482 at the 2010 census. It is also the principal city of the Watertown Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Codington and Hamlin counties...

, and at five weeks of age was adopted by Michael and Helen (Schlote) Courey of Sioux City, Iowa
Sioux City, Iowa
Sioux City is a city in Plymouth and Woodbury counties in the western part of the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 82,684 in the 2010 census, a decline from 85,013 in the 2000 census, which makes it currently the fourth largest city in the state....

. At Bishop Heelan Catholic High School
Bishop Heelan Catholic High School
Bishop Heelan is a private, Roman Catholic high school in Sioux City, Iowa. It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sioux City.-History:...

 he became an All-State athlete in football, basketball and baseball, and was a Parade All-American when he was given a football scholarship to Notre Dame
Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team is the football team of the University of Notre Dame. The team is currently coached by Brian Kelly.Notre Dame competes as an Independent at the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision level, and is a founding member of the Bowl Championship Series coalition. It is an...

 in 1977.

In his freshman year Courey played halfback
Running back
A running back is a gridiron football position, who is typically lined up in the offensive backfield. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback for a rushing play, to catch passes from out of the backfield, and to block.There are usually one or two running...

 for the national champion team, and opened eyes when he completed an option pass for 24 yards in a comeback win at Clemson
Clemson Tigers
The Clemson Tigers are any team that represents Clemson University as a member of the NCAA's Division I or in the Atlantic Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference....

. In 1978 he was moved to flanker
Wide receiver
A wide receiver is an offensive position in American and Canadian football, and is the key player in most of the passing plays. Only players in the backfield or the ends on the line are eligible to catch a forward pass. The two players who begin play at the ends of the offensive line are eligible...

, and in 1979 became a backup quarterback
Quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...

.

As a senior in 1980, Courey won the No. 1 quarterback job and went 3-0 as a starter, including wins over ninth-ranked Purdue
Purdue Boilermakers football
The Purdue Boilermakers football team is the intercollegiate football program of the Purdue University Boilermakers. The program is classified in the NCAA's Division I Bowl Subdivision, and the team competes in the Big Ten Conference. The Boilermakers have an all-time record of...

 and fourteenth-ranked Michigan
Michigan Wolverines football
The Michigan Wolverines football program represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Michigan has the most all-time wins and the highest winning percentage in college football history...

. But then coach Dan Devine
Dan Devine
Daniel John Devine was an American football player and coach. He served as the head coach football coach at Arizona State University from 1955 to 1957, the University of Missouri from 1958 to 1970, and the University of Notre Dame from 1975 to 1980, compiling a career college football mark of...

, who had a reputation for being fickle with his QBs, decided to give the starting job to freshman Blair Kiel
Blair Kiel
Blair Armstrong Kiel is a former four-year starting quarterback for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team, from 1980-1983. He played professionally for several teams in the National Football League, the Canadian Football League and the Arena Football League, and was inducted into the...

, believing the underclassman to have a stronger arm. Courey would later lead a tying touchdown drive against Georgia Tech
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football
The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team represents the Georgia Institute of Technology in collegiate level football. While the team is officially designated as the Yellow Jackets, it is also referred to as the Ramblin' Wreck. The Yellow Jackets are a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference...

, but would never start another game.

Courey earned his degree in business management, and later became president of the International Brotherhood of Painters and Allied Trades Union Local 214 in Sioux City.

In 2006 Courey was found to have a malignant schwannoma
Schwannoma
A schwannoma is a benign nerve sheath tumor composed of Schwann cells, which normally produce the insulating myelin sheath covering peripheral nerves....

tumor in his back. He succumbed to the cancer nineteen months later, leaving behind three daughters and a son.
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