Mother of Boy Who Called Notre Dame Play Dies

Cathy Mazurkiewicz, whose 10-year-old son, Montana, was granted his dying wish to call a play for Notre Dame, has died.

The mother of a boy granted a dying wish to call a football play for Notre Dame died eight months after her son. Cathy Mazurkiewicz died Wednesday at 46 at her parents’ home in Bodfish, Calif., of melanoma, said her daughter, Katrin Seymour. Montana, 10, died of inoperable brain cancer. “Me and my sister were with her,” Seymour said. “She took a few soft breaths, gave a smile, then she was gone.”

Cathy Mazurkiewicz, the mother of six children, knew her health was failing when her son died but kept it quiet. “When she was taking care of Montana she hardly had time to focus on her own illness,” said Seymour, who lives in Alhambra, Calif., east of Los Angeles.

Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis visited Montana Mazurkiewicz in Mishawaka, outside South Bend, last September before Notre Dame played Washington. Weis asked if there was something he could do, and he agreed to let Montana call the first play against Washington. Montana called “pass right.” Weis called for a pass right on the first play of the game even though the Irish started on their 1-yard line. Tight end Anthony Fasano caught the pass and leaped over a defender for a 13-yard gain.

Montana never got to see the play, though. He had died the day before.

Ugh. What a horrible year for the Mazurkiewicz family.

Related: Notre Dame’s Charlie Weis Lets Dying Boy Call Play

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James Joyner
About James Joyner
James Joyner is Professor and Department Head of Security Studies at Marine Corps University's Command and Staff College. He's a former Army officer and Desert Storm veteran. Views expressed here are his own. Follow James on Twitter @DrJJoyner.

Comments

  1. jwb says:

    Well, that was depressing. At least the receiver didn’t get ganked for a safety.