For more information, please contact John McCarthy, Brother Rice Baseball Coach, at 708-712-7234 or jmccarthy@brrice.org or Katie Kettering, Miracles Happen Baseball, at 773-239-5388 or kettering.katie@gmail.com

Alumni who participate will be asked to give two or more 21-minute presentations, telling their unique stories of how they got from Brother Rice to where they are now.  Participants will be provided with more direction after they confirm their participation.

Interested alumni should fill out the form below or contact Alumni Director Jim Casey at (773) 429-4456 or jcasey@brrice.org.  Please state your profession and a preference for morning (7:45 – 11:30 A.M.), afternoon (11:00 A.M. to 2:45 P.M.), or if you are available any time during the day.  Responses are requested by February 17, 2012; alums will be contacted with confirmations of the exact time of presentations one or two weeks prior to March 14, 2012.

Check in time is 9:30 A.M., and Mass will begin at 10:00 A.M. in the Main Gym.  Breakfast will immediately follow in the Brother Rice cafeteria.  The cost for breakfast for mom and Crusader son is $15; additional guests are $8 each.

Please check your Mothers’ Club e-mail for a reservation form or pick up a form in the school office; forms and payment should be returned to the school office.

Welcome to brotherrice.org!  Our website has been restructured to provide you with information on “everything Brother Rice”!  As you peruse our recently-improved website, we hope you’ll find all the information you need about Brother Rice: academic, spiritual, social, and athletic programs by using the links directly under the banner of our homepage.  Also note that we have linked our site to other websites, including Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and LinkedIn.  We’re proud to feature articles written by our students and staff, which you’ll find on The Standard and Crusader Clips pages. We’ve made it our goal to provide you with the latest information about school happenings, including athletic, service, and social events that you and your family would enjoy.

Please take some time to look around the Brother Rice website.  We hope you like what you see! Feel free to contact us regarding any questions or comments you may have.

Sincerely,

Dr. Kevin G. Burns
President

Oldest brother Jerry Diehl ’91started the family’s athletic tradition at Brother Rice by playing football and basketball.  He was followed by brother Jeff ’93, who played basketball.  Youngest brother Dave rounded out the family’s dedication to sports by playing football at Rice for four years on both the offensive and defensive lines.

Dave’s football career at Brother Rice actually started on the sidelines.  Dave was the ball boy for Coach Tom Mitchell when his brother Jerry played at Rice.  Coach Bill Gleeson remarked, “Dave did his job (as a ball boy) and really liked being around his big brother.  I think that still holds true today.  He is still close with his family and with good friends like Jack Winters, Kevin Badke, and many others.”

After graduating from Brother Rice, Dave made his way to the University of Illinois to play football, where he earned Academic All-Big Ten honors an incredible five times.  Dave was an All-Big Ten Conference selection and started all twelve games for the Illini his senior year, setting a number of school records.  He majored in speech communication, then earned his master’s degree in Human Resource Education.

Dave Diehl was drafted by the New York Giants in 2003 and has played for the Giants the last nine years. He has played right and left guard and also right and left tackle for the Giants.  Dave was named to the 2009 Pro Bowl and was a 2nd team All-NFL selection of the Associated Press in 2008.  He was also named the 2003 Giants Offensive Rookie of the Year and selected to the NFL All Rookie Team.  David played a major role with the 2007 New York Giants, winning his first Super Bowl championship.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Has Dave’s football success changed him?  Not according to Mrs. Diehl.  “David hasn’t changed at all,” she said. “People who know him say he’s the same as he’s always been.  For David, playing football is his job.”

In fact, Dave’s status as a nationally-known football player is so low-key in his family that during one of the family’s get-togethers to watch the Giants play on TV, one of Mrs. Diehl’s grandchildren asked, “Is Uncle Dave a celebrity?”

“The kids don’t see him as anything but their uncle.” Mrs. Diehl says.  “David is just David.”

So is it still hard to watch a son, even an exceptionally-trained, well-conditioned pro football player, take a hit out on the field? “Definitely,” says Mrs. Diehl.  “I don’t watch the game straight through.  It’s difficult to be a mom and watch David get hit.  I have a tendency to look the other way.”

Mrs. Diehl will be there to watch David this weekend; she is getting ready to make her way to Indianapolis and take her place in the stands for Super Bowl XLVI.  Her only regret is that David’s dad, Jerry Sr., will not be in the stands to watch the game beside her.  David honors the memory of his father with a prayer before each game.  He also writes his dad’s initials, JAD, in the palms of his gloves for every game.

As he takes the field for his second Super Bowl appearance, David Diehl will carry the love of his father in the palms of his hands; his mother’s love will be heard ringing through the stands as she cheers for her son.  And back home, the Crusaders will be cheering loudly in front of their TV sets for another big win for one of their own.

Kurt Snibbe/ESPN.com

Now the 2011 Tuesday Morning Quarterback Non-Quarterback Non-Running Back NFL MVP — David Diehl, left tackle of the Jersey/A Giants.

On his best days Diehl is not the NFL’s best left tackle, or even as good, athletically, as Matt Light, who will start at left tackle for the Patriots. (Light was the 2007 TMQ NQB NRB MVP, and my award does not allow repeat recipients.) What Diehl brings to the table is consistently high-level performance. He rarely allows sacks, rarely misses run blocks and never takes downs off. Watch tape and you’ll see that even in NFL big games, there are an amazing number of downs on which at least one lineman simply brushes his man and then stands there doing nothing. Diehl never stands there doing nothing. He’s always working.

Drafted by the Giants in the fifth round out of Illinois, Diehl became an immediate starter at left tackle, and has remained the team’s left tackle starter for nine seasons. He has missed only four games to injuries in his career, starting 150 of a possible 154 games. Thus he’s not just a good player — he has been a good player for almost every game for nine years.

Read more >

Source: ESPN | Gregg Easterbrook

Brother Rice has chosen to break off its original website for a couple of reasons, primarily to offer better organization of news articles and to create a destination for each group.  Additionally, we will begin selling advertising on both the Athletic and Alumni sites.  Ad space on the Alumni site will be limited to businesses and services provided by Brother Rice alumni.  Those interested in purchasing ad space on either site should contact Marketing Director Brian Barkowski.

These sites were developed and designed with the help of alumni Ed Sochacki ’91 of Sochacki Communications and Adam Middleton ’91 of Yellow Barn Design.

We hope that you enjoy the new websites and look forward to your feedback.  As always, thank you for your continued support of Brother Rice.

PLEASE NOTE: It may take up to 48 hours for all of the pages in the new sites to appear.  We thank you in advance for your patience.  If you have any questions or comments, please direct them to Marketing Director, Brian Barkowski.

Alumni who participate will be asked to give two or more 21-minute presentations, telling their unique stories of how they got from Brother Rice to where they are now. Participants will be provided with more direction after they confirm their participation.

Interested alumni should fill out the form below or contact Alumni Director Jim Casey at (773) 429-4456 or jcasey@brrice.org. Please state your profession and a preference for morning (7:45 – 11:30 A.M.), afternoon (11:00 A.M. to 2:45 P.M.), or if you are available any time during the day. Responses are requested by February 17, 2012; alums will be contacted with confirmations of the exact time of presentations one or two weeks prior to March 14, 2012.