Missouri soccer player has ancestor with legendary ties

COLUMBIA — Missouri soccer player Dominique Richardson has some family ties to a Notre Dame legend.

The freshman midfielder is the great-granddaughter of Clem Crowe, an end for the Seven Mules who blocked for the renowned Four Horsemen on the Notre Dame football team in the 1920s. He was team captain in 1925.

The Four Horsemen were immortalized in print by sportswriter Grantland Rice after a game against Army in 1924. Notre Dame went on to win the national championship that season.

Crowe, who died in 1983, was the grandfather of Richardson’s mother. In addition to playing for the Fighting Irish football team, Crowe played basketball at Notre Dame and was elected to the Xavier Athletic Hall of Fame after coaching football, basketball, baseball and golf in the 1930s and '40s.

“I think it’s awesome that he was able to do that,” Richardson said of Crowe’s accomplishments.

Richardson learned about Crowe two years ago when her mother brought him up while they were discussing colleges.

“I thought it was really cool,” Richardson said.

Although she has never visited Notre Dame and didn’t consider the school when it came time choose a college, Crowe’s legacy is never far away from her.

That legacy is one that Dominique Richardson’s mother, Ann Richardson, 46, of Fullerton, Calif., treasures.

Looking at the athletic parallel between Crowe and her daughter is something in which Ann Richardson takes pride.

“I think it’s quite a privilege that she's (Dominique) been able to go to a four-year university on scholarship,” Ann Richardson said. “I found on my cousin’s Facebook profile a picture of him (Crowe) in his playing gear. This is three generations ago, and now she’s in college. He set a precedent for that.”

Dominique Richardson’s grandmother, Ann Cook, 75, of Northridge, Calif., is Crowe’s daughter. 

At her home she has some memorabilia from Crowe’s playing and coaching days, including a letter to Crowe from Notre Dame coach Knute Rockne and a silver bowl given as a gift when he coached the British Columbia Lions of the Canadian Football League football in the 1950s.

Cook said her father took a quiet approach to life on and off the field.

“He didn’t strut around. He just did his job,” Cook said.

With all of his accomplishments, Crowe is an inspiration to her granddaughter and other ancestors, Cook said.

“It’s something to aim for,” she said. “They see that he did it, and they can do it, too.”