Rocky Boiman is more than just a football player. He carries a 3.0 grade-point average at Notre Dame. His favorite course is organic chemistry. He'll consider medical school after graduation. But you'll find “Master of Puppets” by Metallica in his CD player. Boiman answered five questions from Enquirer reporter John Fay:

        1. How tough is it to balance school and football?

It's hard. The demands at Notre Dame are so great. Academics are much more prevalent here than at other schools. I learned at St. X to manage my time. But it wears on you. It can get you down.

        2. Is Rocky your real name?

Yeah. My parents really liked the name Rocky. They figured if they were going to call me that, they'd make it my real name. It doesn't have anything to do with the movie.

        3. What's the best thing about playing football at Notre Dame?

That's a hard question. I can't say it's one thing. It's a tough place to play in a way because so much is expected of you. But I also feel the rewards are a lot greater. Going to the Fiesta Bowl as Notre Dame isn't like going as any other school. Winning the national championship as Notre Dame isn't like winning it as any other school.

        4. Notre Dame used to have a lot of Greater Catholic League guys on the roster. Now, you're the only Cincinnati guy on the team. What's the deal?

I don't know what happened. The trend in college football now is to hit Texas and Florida to get the speed guys. But I keep telling them they have to recruit more Cincinnati guys. But I'm not the recruiting coordinator.

        5. We hear Metallica is part of your pregame ritual.

I'm a big rock guy. They're my favorite band. I pop in the CD before the game, and it gets me fired up and focused.

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