Faith in God splits the uprights for Catholic college place-kicker

Published: 2007-01-05

MILWAUKEE (CNS) -- Like many place-kickers, the University of Notre Dame's Carl Gioia contends his craft is 98 percent mental and 2 percent physical. But he qualifies that larger percentage. "I include the spiritual with that," he said in a telephone interview with the Catholic Herald, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. "Faith gives you strength and confidence in what you do." Gioia credits his parents for rooting him in his Catholic faith. "I didn't go to a Catholic school, but our environment was Catholic," he said of life in Valparaiso, Ind., where he belongs to St. Paul Parish. Terming Catholicism "a big part of our family's life," he noted that they "celebrated (Easter and Christmas) with more than candy, eggs and turkey." That same environment also led Gioia to choose Notre Dame, in Indiana, where he was a "preferred" walk-on who did not receive a scholarship until his sophomore year, over the other 20 schools that recruited him. "A nice thing about Notre Dame is that they are very accepting of people, and of integrating faith into everyday life," he said.

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