Lawrence C. DiNardo (born August 18, 1949) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

who played for the

Notre Dame Fighting Irish football The Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team is the intercollegiate football team representing the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana, north of the city of South Bend, Indiana. The team plays its home games at the campus' Notre Dame ...

team of the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

, and was recognized as a consensus All-American in 1970. After college, he practiced law in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Early life

DiNardo a native of

Howard Beach, Queens Howard Beach is a neighborhood in the southwestern portion of the New York City borough of Queens. It is bordered to the north by the Belt Parkway and Conduit Avenue in Ozone Park, to the south by Jamaica Bay in Broad Channel, to the east by 1 ...

, is the older brother of college football coach

Gerry DiNardo Gerard Paul DiNardo (born November 10, 1952) is a former American football player and coach. He played college football as a guard for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish where he was selected as an All-American in 1974. DiNardo served as the head fo ...

. He attended

St. Francis Preparatory School , motto_translation = My God and My All , location = , streetaddress = 6100 Francis Lewis Boulevard , city = New York City (Fresh Meadows, Queens) , state = New York , ...

Fresh Meadows Fresh Meadows is a neighborhood in the northeastern section of the New York City borough of Queens. Fresh Meadows used to be part of the broader town of Flushing and is bordered to the north by the Horace Harding Expressway; to the west by Pomo ...

neighborhood in New York City borough of Queens where he graduated as

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the highest-performing student of a graduating class of an academic institution. The valedictorian is commonly determined by a numerical formula, generally an academic institution's grade point average (GPA ...

in 1967.

Playing career

DiNardo played for the

team under coach

Ara Parseghian Ara Raoul Parseghian (; hy, Արա Ռաուլ Պարսեղյան; May 21, 1923 – August 2, 2017) was an American football player and coach who guided the University of Notre Dame to national championships in 1966 and 1973. He is noted for bri ...

during the 1968, 1969 and 1970 seasons. Following his senior year, as a 6-foot, 1-inch, 235-pound

, he was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American, having received first-team honors from several publications and organizations including the Associated Press (AP), and United Press International (UPI).''2014 NCAA Football Records Book''
Award Winners
National Collegiate Athletic Association, Indianapolis, Indiana, pp. 4 & 14 (2014). Retrieved August 19, 2014. That year, he was a co-captain and helped the Fighting Irish to set a then all-time school record of 510.5 yards per game for total offense. DiNardo ran into some controversy after returning home from an

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

-sponsored trip to boost the troop morale during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. In an interview he called the war "a total waste." Later he told a reporter with ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

'' that he was conservative and did not want to be "a hero of the new left." He also added he didn't think his comment was that controversial, saying "I mean, who's not against the war?"

After college football

DiNardo was drafted by the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

in the seventh round (158 overall selection) of the

1971 NFL Draft The 1971 National Football League draft was held January 28–29, 1971, at the Belmont Plaza Hotel in New York City, New York. The Boston Patriots, who did not officially change their name to New England Patriots until after the draft, used th ...

. He played in 5 preseason games before getting cut. Instead of trying to make another team, he chose to return to Notre Dame and enter law school. He graduated in 1974 began practicing law in

South Bend, Indiana South Bend is a city in and the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, St. Joseph County, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan), St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2020 United S ...

. Later he joined the firm of Seyfarth, Shaw and Fairweather in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, and eventually became a partner at

Jones Day Jones Day is an American multinational law firm. As of 2021, it was the eighth largest law firm in the U.S. and the 13th highest grossing law firm in the world. Originally headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Jones Day ranks first in both M&A le ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:DiNardo, Larry 1949 births Living people American football guards Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players All-American college football players Illinois lawyers Notre Dame Law School alumni People from Howard Beach, Queens Players of American football from New York City