DETROIT (AP)--Football great Paul Hornung said in a
radio interview that his alma mater, Notre Dame, needs
to lower its academic standards to "get the black
athlete."

"As far as Notre Dame is concerned, we're going to
have to ease it up a little bit," Hornung told
Detroit's WXYT-AM in an interview before the Michigan
Sports Hall of Fame banquet Tuesday.

WXYT's sister station, WWJ-AM in Detroit, played a
portion of the interview for The Associated Press on
Wednesday.

Hornung, who is white, won the 1956 Heisman Trophy at
Notre Dame. He went on to star for the NFL's Green Bay
Packers and is a member of the Pro Football Hall of
Fame.

"We can't stay as strict as we are as far as the
academic structure is concerned because we've got to
get the black athlete," Hornung said in the interview.
"We must get the black athlete if we're going to
compete."

Hornung and Notre Dame associate athletic director
John Heisler did not immediately return phone messages
left Wednesday by the AP.

Hornung has previously criticized the school, saying
its academic requirements have hurt the athletic
department.

"We open up with Michigan, then go to Michigan State
and Purdue--those are the first three games, you know,
and you can't play a schedule like this unless you
have the black athlete today," he said. "You just
can't do it."

Notre Dame's football team went 5-7 last season, its
second under Tyrone Willingham, the first black head
coach in any sport in school history.

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