‘Promise made and promise kept’ — former Irish RB Jerome Bettis is a Notre Dame graduate

Turns out, Jerome Bettis can still enthuse a Notre Dame Stadium crowd. Even without a football in his hands or without plunging his way into the end zone.

Bettis came back to Notre Dame in January to take one more plunge, and this one might’ve been more difficult than dragging would-be tacklers in his wake. Finishing it might even be more rewarding than a touchdown.

Sunday, Bettis crossed the goal line of the task he first set out to accomplish in 1990 but deferred nearly 30 years when the NFL beckoned.

Graduate from Notre Dame.

“I’ve been waiting 28 years to celebrate this moment,” Bettis said Sunday at Notre Dame’s commencement.

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Bettis flipped the tassel on his cap from right to left Sunday along with the rest of Notre Dame’s class of 2022. He joined them for just one semester – all he had left to complete when he bolted for the 1993 NFL Draft after three seasons with the Irish. He could come back later and finish. He promised his mother, Gladys, he would graduate. But chances for seven-figure paychecks don’t last forever.

Bettis spent 13 years in the NFL, winning a Super Bowl with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He is eighth on the league’s all-time rushing list (13,662 yards) and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2015. He owns and operates several businesses, including Bettis Brothers Sand & Gravel. He made an estimated $35 million in his NFL career. He did not need one more semester of college credits to validate his professional success.

But he wanted to finish it anyway. He wanted to keep his word, even if it meant spending four months away from his family in Atlanta and navigating college life as a 50-year-old with classmates nearly 30 years his junior.

“Mom, promise made and promise kept,” Bettis said.

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Bettis’ visions of being an ordinary student crashed within minutes of his first class when a professor asked students to introduce themselves one by one. He decided that day he should lean into his status and be as accessible as he could.

He delivered on that front too. While on campus, Bettis met weekly with Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman, spoke to the team after a winter workout, met one-on-one with several players, completed group projects with students and filmed a “Ghostbusters” spoof with Peyton and Eli Manning.

Not even a senior year as a Notre Dame football star could have delivered that level of celebrity, or more importantly, all the reward Bettis found.

Now, a senior year for the ages has come to an end.

“With apologies to the class of 1994, I’m proud to be a graduate in the class of 2022,” Bettis said.

Bettis spoke for nearly five minutes at commencement, challenging his classmates to think about their legacy.

I have been waiting 28 years to celebrate this moment. I am so proud to be a graduate of the University of @NotreDame class of 2022!! pic.twitter.com/VjfleJ40Ia

— Jerome Bettis (@JeromeBettis36) May 16, 2022

“As you leave here, you will be writing your legacy,” Bettis said. “One with the class of 2022, the other with your personal journey. Collectively, we all helped create the legacy of the 2022 class with what we do with our lives and how we affect the world around us.

“I want to talk about your personal legacy and how it will be written. It will not be how much money you made, but the difference you made in someone’s life. Not the political policies that I’m sure you will no doubt change, but the amount of lives you will somehow change. Not the assets you will acquire in a lifetime, but your ability to be an asset in someone else’s. Not your ability to raise capital, but ability to raise your children with humility, empathy and love.

“This is how your legacy will be written. Take it from me, I have about a 30-year head start.”

His idea of the class’s legacy is not only individual, but collective. And one he hopes he can still contribute to even with that head start.

“Don’t forget the university and our collective legacy that will be one that we strengthen her doors to preserve the next generation’s opportunity to change the world,” Bettis said. “If we can do this collectively, our legacy will be written as the best class in the history of Notre Dame.”

He left to applause and cheers one last time.