Ace | by Jay

Great portrait of Asaph Schwapp from the Hartford Courant. To say he's excited to come to ND would be a massive understatement.

"I couldn't have ever imagined this day would ever come," Schwapp said. "It's really a dream come true."

Schwapp says he is a Tampa Bay Buccaneers fan, but he has been "paying a lot more attention to the Patriots lately."

"I love his offense," Schwapp said of Weis. "He gets the fullback involved a lot. He throws the ball in flats. He likes to run the I-form. All their plays set up in the I-form. He might motion with the single back but they all start in the I-form. I like that idea. When you see the Patriots you see so many people involved in that offense. He pretty much uses everybody. I think that style is going to translate well into the college game."

Schwapp seems to be a local hero: Apparently even the mayor of Hartford showed up at the signing yesterday. Schwapp's legal guardian Clarke King was pretty excited to see him pick ND:

King said there were three reasons he was happy to see Schwapp going to Notre Dame. The first is that academics are No.1. The second is that all Notre Dame games are on TV.

"Third of all, he's eating me out of house and home," King said. "My grocery bill keeps going up and up. Let Notre Dame take care of his eating habits now."

(Tip of the hat to PMan over on NDN for the heads-up.)