James S. O'Brien attended Boston College and graduated from the College of Business Administration in 1960. While a student at Boston College, he played football and was considered an exceptional offensive and defensive tackle, earning both All-New England and All-East honors. In a 1959 All-American Bowl game, he was selected “Outstanding Lineman.” He was drafted by both the Detroit Lions (NFL) and the Oakland Raiders (AFL), but his professional career was shortened by injuries. O’Brien was primarily responsible for organizing the Emerald Isle Classic, an American college football game played in Ireland in 1988; he received the P.V. Doyle Tourism Award from the President of Ireland the following year. In 1993, O’Brien was inducted into the Boston College Varsity Club Athletic Hall of Fame.

At the time of the Emerald Isle Classic, he was the president of the Brian Boru Corporation in Scituate, Massachusetts. Since then, he has been involved with a variety of companies and institutions including Synergy Real Estate Investment, Development (Boston), Massachusetts Special Olympics, Ireland Chamber of Commerce in the U.S., and on the Board of the Newman School (Boston).

Sources:

College football reference: Jim O'Brien. http://cfreference.net/cfr/show_player/6984 (accessed April 10, 2007).

Player Bio: Jim O’Brien. Boston College Official Athletic Site. (accessed 2010 June 16).

Sub Turri. 1960. (Boston College yearbook).

The Emerald Isle Classic football game was played in Dublin, Ireland between Boston College and West Point Academy (“Army”) in November, 1988. Boston College alumnus James O’Brien was primarily responsible for envisioning and organizing the Emerald Isle Classic. It took nearly three years to make the idea a reality. Boston College won the game, beating Army 38 to 24.

The game was the first major NCAA game in Europe and was attended by over 42,000 fans. Of these attendees, an estimated 10,000 travelled from the United States, 7,000 of whom were likely from the Boston area. Although originally conceived as an annual event, limited attendance in 1989 caused it to be discontinued.

Source:

Steve Lohr, Special to The New York Times. "Dubliners Cheer as B.C. Wins: Dubliners Delighted as B.C. Wins." New York Times (1923-Current File), November 20, 1988.(accessed on ProQuest June 16, 2010).