Reporter opens up on ugly scene in Notre Dame locker room

The Notre Dame locker room was apparently an “ugly” place after Ohio State’s 34-23 victory over the Fighting Irish in the College Football Playoff national championship on Monday.Dan Wolken, a national columnist for USA Today Sports, described it as a tense environment, with players yelling at reporters in a tweet posted after the game — which led to some blowback online.“Bizarre scenes from the Notre Dame locker room, players yelling at reporters, coaches warning people not to ask certain questions,” Wolken wrote on X, adding, “Amateur hour.”Wolken further detailed his experience in a post on his verified Reddit account and claimed “a few [Notre Dame] players said some pretty threatening and insulting things to me” as he exited the locker room.

Wolken explained that he went to the locker room specifically to speak with Notre Dame sophomore cornerback Christian Gray — who was beat by Buckeyes receiver Jeremiah Smith for a 56-yard pass late in the fourth quarter that sealed Ohio State’s victory over the Fighting Irish.“I was going to write a piece about Jeremiah Smith’s game-clinching catch,” Wolken wrote, adding that he had already asked Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman about the play in his press conference, and that he wanted to get Gray’s perspective in the locker room.

“When I walked into the locker room, there were a small number of reporters in there.But some of them had already approached Gray and tried to ask about the play,” Wolken said.

“As I walked in, a few players were shouting obscenities at the reporters who had been there and complaining about the fact that Gray was asked about Jeremiah Smith.“I noticed that a staff member had walled off access to the locker and said that he wasn’t going to answer questions about the play.

So I turned around to leave because there was no point wasting my time and was going to go over to the Ohio State locker room.As I was leaving, a few players said some pretty th...