Las Vegas trip jammed up summer workout schedule of Notre Dame DE Isaiah Foskey

Given the chance to go to Las Vegas for a little fun and a little sun, who would ever have to think twice about that trip? 

Notre Dame defensive end Isaiah Foskey would. And did. 

Foskey had no idea that making a promotional video for the Notre Dame uniform reveal for its game against Brigham Young in Las Vegas on Oct. 8 would take off as it did. And, boy, did it. In early July, Foskey learned of what Fighting Irish Media had planned to help announce the uniforms that Notre Dame would wear for its 2022 Shamrock Series game. 

The promotional video would parody two scenes from the movie, “The Hangover.” They wouldn’t involve former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson or his pet tiger or a police car (watch the movie) but did involve Foskey, tight end Michael Mayer and head coach Marcus Freeman. Former Irish interior linemen Mike Golic and Mike Golic, Jr., also participated. 

Foskey wasn’t all in. At least, not from the jump. 

“At first, I was like ‘I don’t want to miss workouts because I don’t want to (have) to make it up,’” Foskey said Friday, the first day he and five fellow defensive linemen met the media during preseason camp. “I want to be with the team and work out. It propels me to work harder being with other people.” 

Surprisingly, Foskey talked with the media Friday for nearly 20 minutes before being asked about the video. 

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The more Foskey thought about participating, the more he wanted to do it. 

“I was like, ‘If it’s going to help recruiting and Coach Freeman’s there, (I) always like hanging out with Coach Freeman,” he said. 

But... 

“I didn’t know how it was going to turn out,” he said. “I didn’t know we were going to have a Rolls Royce there.” 

A white Rolls, a black SUV, a trip to the Strip, a visit to Allegiant Stadium, and the first look at the ice-white uniforms. All of that and more. So off to Vegas he went, if only for two days. 

The Irish traveling party arrived late one morning in mid-July, then shot the video the rest of that day. Next day, their last, there was an early wakeup call to shoot the opening scene in the desert. The earlier the better with the summer heat in the dessert, so it was another long day. 

Over the course of the video that runs four minutes and five seconds, Foskey had 12 separate speaking lines. Some, like “Who’s Doug?” were quick. Another was not. A line to the Golics (playing the bad guys) about being able to actually see the uniform, went 38 words. 

“We were pretty good,” Foskey said of his acting chops. “I don’t know how we were that good. Me, Mayer and Freeman, we were just like spitting out the lines really well.” 

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Foskey said it took Mayer about five takes for his funniest scene of falling out of the white Rolls Royce. As the video starts, Freeman is behind the wheel of the luxury car; Foskey is riding shotgun and Mayer is in the backseat. They're all wearing sunglasses. 

And yes, Foskey knew the scene and the movie that they were parodying. 

“I’ve seen the movie,” he said with a smile. “I’m not that young.” 

As of Friday, the video has been seen over three million times on CBS Sports.com since it was released on July 27. That’s three MILLION.

“I didn’t know it was going to blow up as much as it did,” said Foskey, who said his phone did blow up with family and friends messaged him once it went viral. “I knew the video was going to be insanely good just the way they made it.” 

That it was.