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Notre Dame unveils Sam Hartman's rib necklace ahead of season opener vs. Navy

ns_headshot_2024-clearby: Nick Schultz08/26/23NickSchultz_7
hartman (18)
Notre Dame quarterback Sam Hartman. (Photo by Chad Weaver)

Notre Dame quarterback Sam Hartman hasn’t made a secret about his plans for his surgically removed rib. He underwent the surgery last year and announced his plans to turn it into a necklace.

It’s now complete, and Notre Dame unveiled it ahead of Saturday’s season opener.

Hartman’s necklace made the trip to Dublin for the matchup vs. Navy — his first game with the Fighting Irish after transferring from Wake Forest. He wore it pregame, and it could be a good luck charm of sorts as he makes his debut.

Last year, Hartman said he planned to turn the rib into a necklace after he had a blood clot removed. After transferring to Notre Dame, he reiterated those plans during an interview with David Hale on The Paul Finebaum Show

“The rib is good. It’s actually clean. It looks like a fossil type deal. It is well on its way to becoming a necklace,” Hartman said. “I think we’re about a couple weeks out from finalizing it. We’re just making sure we take great care of it and make sure that it stays in one piece.”

Sam Hartman on his rib necklace: Notre Dame teammates will be like, ‘There’s no way’

Hartman knew the reception would be mixed considering he’s literally wearing something that was inside his body a year ago. But he was ready for it, and his teammates would find out how serious he was about it when he put the necklace on the first time.

“I think it’s a lot of disbelief,” Hartman said. “Like a lot of my teammates here, it’s kind of — they don’t always know. I guess I sometimes assume that people know your story and how much it sometimes gets told. It is a fun fact and guys kind of will be like, ‘There’s no way.’ And then I have to show them the scar. And then ultimately they’ll ask to see a picture of it and they immediately regret asking to see a picture of a human rib not inside the body.”

The Fighting Irish hope the necklace becomes a good luck charm of sorts for Hartman, the ACC’s all-time leading touchdown passer who’s going to try and take the Notre Dame offense to the next level. That all starts Saturday when the season kicks off against Navy in Dublin. It marks the third time the two teams will face off in Ireland.

On3’s Andrew Graham contributed to this report.