Posted by
Ed Lilly on Saturday, November 10, 2007 3:41:40 PM
Why in the world would one of George Gipp's relatives agree to have the Gipper's remains exhumed for DNA testing to answer a question of paternity?
From the story (emphasis added):
Mike Bynum, an Alabama sports author who is researching a book on Gipp, said he came across an Internet posting several years ago by a woman who believed she was a descendant of the football great. She was a granddaughter of Eva Bright, a South Bend, Ind., woman Gipp had dated for about a year before his death, Bynum said.
Bynum said he helped put the woman in touch with Frueh and other Gipp relatives. Eventually, Frueh decided to have the body exhumed. Gipp's right femur was removed and the other remains reburied, Bynum said in a telephone interview.
The DNA testing of the bone was conducted at a laboratory in Dallas. Results this week showed no link between Gipp and Bright, Bynum said.
In a statement, Frueh said he had no regrets about the exhumation and felt it had been important to learn whether Bright's descendants were part of the Gipp family.
"Helping family is the strongest act of love that we can offer each other. And if it happened again, our response would be the same," Frueh said.
Helping family? Something tells me there must have been a money angle in here somewhere. Earlier in the story, it is explained that Frueh's decision made some of his ACTUAL family members angry. I think I can understand that. After all, Gipp has been dead for over 85 years. It's not like there is some pressing need to get to the bottom of this paternity rumor now.
Of course, I suppose there's always at least the possibility this whole story is a ruse to cover up Notre Dame's desperate attempt to clone Gipp in hopes of getting a quality team back on the field.