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Down time this fall for Chris Stewart could be that brief period right after games. Sore and tired from blocking, the 6-foot-5, 360-pound Notre Dame guard plans to use those few precious hours for a respite.
''Relax, watch some TV and do nothing,'' the fifth-year senior says.
He'll have earned it. When he's not concentrating on his assignments in first-year coach Brian Kelly's don't-blink, hurry-up, no-huddle offense, he'll be tackling something just as challenging - his first year of law school.
Stewart graduated in 3 1/2 years with a history degree, finishing his undergraduate days with a 3.5 grade-point average. He took a couple of law courses last spring - he said he got an A and a B - and now it's time to charge into it with the same passion he applies on the field.
''With the legal aspect, they teach you how to look at things from both sides because you strengthen whatever side you are on by knowing what the other guy is thinking,'' Stewart said.
That always helps in football, knowing the tendencies of the guy across the line.
Stewart will be one of the leaders on the Irish front - his 22 career starts tie him with tight end Kyle Rudolph for most among offensive players. And Stewart, who is certainly an NFL prospect, showed physical improvement during the summer
''Here is a young man when he came in could only do about three or four chin-ups. He did 23 chin-ups at 362 pounds,'' Kelly said. ''His body fat composition went down almost 4 percent.''
Stewart made 12 starts last year in coach Charlie Weis' pro-based offense and he and his teammates spent this past spring making the adjustment to Kelly's high-scoring spread system that was so successful at Cincinnati.
''It's been quite interesting, I can't lie. It's been good,'' Stewart said.
''It's been about as good a transition as you can hope for,'' he said. ''Not only with football but with law school and everything, to really have made some strides. ... You get a coach like Coach K, he meets us halfway on a lot of things and he expects a lot from us.''
Finishing law school might have to wait if the NFL does call, but that's fine with Stewart. He's a man with a variety of interests - he visited Haiti pre-earthquake in 2009 and hopes to help the impoverished nation - and he doesn't waste his time on frivolous pursuits. His favorite TV channel?
''The History Channel is still my favorite, no doubt,'' he said.
Law school will mean he'll have to budget his time even more than before. He knows the investment will be worth all the work.
''I think it will be kind of difficult, but having done some of it last spring I don't think it will be too daunting of a task,'' he said.
''I don't think I'll stress out too much. The advantage I have over my peers coming in is that I've taken two classes, so I know what it's like and I've had football while doing that.''
