Faith is a guiding force for a number of college football programs, but Notre Dame takes it a notch higher. Marcus Freeman has reshaped the religious identity of the program during his tenure. The Fighting Irish usually take a few moments to pray in the locker room before walking out. Now imagine, after being in an environment like that, a player rallies his teammates to yell out a slur for motivation. Shocking, right?

Center Ashton Craig is now being criticized for doing exactly that ahead of Notre Dame’s clash against Arkansas. Notre Dame has always been a standout program, particularly because of its philosophy on religion. It’s essentially the foundation of the school. In an atmosphere like that, Craig used an expletive to get into game mode while walking out of the tunnel. And it wasn’t just him. The whole O-line repeated it after Craig, with their full chests.

Tyler Horka shared a clip of that moment. Craig was seen in a huddle with his crew, and then launched a countdown. “F— on two. One, two…” he hollered, and the O-line chanted back in unison. That’s quite the energy around something that’s clearly against Notre Dame’s religious philosophy. Catholicism is an identity for the school, and players become symbols of that identity on the gridiron. This is a squad that attends a pre-game mass before every game. But emotions and energy tend to get the best of men.

Marcus Freeman has become one with the program entirely, and that involves making religion central in his life. Not only that, but he also prioritizes his players to come back to their faith for everything in life. Former QB Riley Leonard is the best example of the culture established by Freeman. It has seldom come under the microscope like this. Ashton Craig’s provocative chant might have fired up his teammates, but ND fans are not impressed.

Fans call out Ashton Craig for his crass words

“Not very catholic of them. What kind of culture is Marcus Freeman building at Notre Dame?” One fan fired away online. Freeman makes faith a central philosophy of the Irish. In fact, he was also the reason why pre-game masses once again became a tradition at Notre Dame. Sadly, this happened away from his eyes. We wonder if Craig will hear a thing or two from the coach about this call. “Sorry… big fan but that is NOT good taste. Hope coaches are aware,” another user wrote.

“These guys are horrible Catholics. Kick them all off the team,” wrote another agitated fan. Cursing is a common thing in the sport. No player really sees strong action against them unless they breach the limits of fun and cross into slander. Ashton Craig used the slur to simply motivate the O-line, so it’s unlikely that he’ll see such a harsh punishment. Moreover, he is a star center for the squad, having been named to the Rimington Award watch list.

Some fans merely gave a slap on the wrist-like reaction to the controversial chant. “Touchdown Jesus would not approve,” wrote one user. The iconic statue at the ND end zone stands as a reminder of what the program revolves around. And then there’s Ashton Craig shouting those unsavory words. Diehard Fighting Irish fans will not let this slide. “Classy group,” another commented, throwing shade at the boys. Craig’s act does chip away at Notre Dame’s standards for student-athletes. He signed up for them and has disappointed them with his crude call.