ND's Quinn, Ndukwe friendship still strong

David McCoy, WSBT Sports

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Former Notre Dame football players Brady Quinn and Chinedum Ndukwe share a laugh during Monday's College Football Hall of Fame Gridiron Legends Luncheon at the Century Center. (WSBT Photo)

By David McCoy, WSBT Sports

Story Created: Jun 21, 2010 at 10:19 PM EDT

Story Updated: Jun 22, 2010 at 4:38 PM EDT

About eight in every 10,000 high school football players make it to the NFL.

Not only have Brady Quinn and Chinedum Ndukwe accomplished that, but they did it from the same high school, and forged a friendship in the process that is still going strong today.

During their time at Notre Dame, Quinn and Ndukwe were not just teammates, and not just roommates, but great friends.

Or, at least, friends.

"You know what kind of a friend he is? He'll leave all his hair products in the bathroom when we were roommates," Ndukwe said. "Just leave them all over, like the counter. Everywhere."

"He's got a lack of hair," Quinn said. "So I don't know what he's going to do with any of that."

Quinn and Ndukwe have been going back and forth like this since they were first teammates, in seventh grade. Last fall - 13 years later - they finally got to play against each other. Their recollections of that week 12 game are quite different.

"He was getting the ball out real quick," Ndukwe said. "He'd just throw it in the dirt before I'd get there. Just to spite me."

"He actually blitzed off the edge one time," Quinn said. "And we had a quarterback throwback pass. And as I ran by him, I could hear he was supposed to cover me, because he was a little bit upset. I ended up catching a pass in that game. I think he was supposed to be covering me on it."

Quinn had a rushing touchdown, but Ndukwe's Bengals won the game. Either way, it was a great reunion.

"He's my best friend." Quinn said. "He's one of those guys where if we don't see each other for a long time, the next time we re-unite, it's like time hasn't passed. We just continue to keep on and have a good time together."

"We've been through highs and lows together," Ndukwe said. "He's probably going to be the best man at my wedding. That's probably like 10 years from now."

And when that happens, Quinn will be there.

Hair products and all.

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