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5 unusual facts about Notre Dame Fighting Irish football


Burleigh Cruikshank

Sportswriter Walter S. Trumbull of the The New York Sun suggested that the Michigan Aggies, Washington & Jefferson, Chicago University, and Notre Dame were the new "Big 4 of College Football" instead of the traditional grouping of Princeton, Yale, Harvard, and Penn.

Chet Grant

At a young age, Chet Grant took an active interest in South Bend athletics, particularly Notre Dame football, and at the age of eighteen he became the sports editor for the South Bend Tribune.

College Basketball on NBC

NBC was seeing much more success with a package of Notre Dame football games than the basketball games by this point.

Edward Abraham Byrne

When his sons were at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana, he attended religiously all the Notre Dame games, enthusiastically supporting them as any undergraduate.

William A. Walsh

William A. Walsh (August 18, 1871—March 18, 1967) was an American football player for the University of Notre Dame, an attorney, and a mayor and city judge of Yonkers, New York.


1963 Iowa Hawkeyes football team

Iowa's game against Notre Dame was cancelled on November 23, 1963 following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy one day earlier.

1968 Pittsburgh Steelers season

No major player transactions happened in the offseason, although the team would draft Notre Dame running back Rocky Bleier with their last pick (16th round) in the 1968 draft.

2001 Stanford Cardinal football team

The team was led by head coach Tyrone Willingham who resigned at the end of the season to become the head coach at Notre Dame.

AJ McCarron

Following the 2013 BCS National Championship Game against Notre Dame, McCarron became the first quarterback to win back-to-back consensus national championships in the BCS era.

Charles R. Meyer

In 1935 against Notre Dame before a capacity crowd of 78,114 in Yankee Stadium, it was Meyer's 41-yard first-quarter TD pass and stellar performance in a 6-6 tie that brought him into the limelight.

Clarence Munn

In 1947, Munn and the Michigan State administration, led by university president John A. Hannah, approached Notre Dame president Father Cavanaugh to have his Fighting Irish play the Spartans for the first time since 1921.

Clark Regional Airport

The airport was notably used by then-University of Louisville football head coach Bobby Petrino for clandestine meetings with officials from Auburn University in 2003 and the University of Notre Dame in 2004 regarding those schools' head coaching jobs (ultimately, he would stay at Louisville through the 2006 season).

Craig Minervini

He also has done play-by-play for various other sports include Notre Dame football on NBC, CBS Sports Spectacular, College World Series on ESPN, Major League Soccer, XFL on TNN, boxing on TNN, mixed martial arts on TNN, Syracuse Chiefs AAA baseball, and Syracuse Orange football, basketball, lacrosse, and soccer.

David M. Nelson

Others who used the Wing-T with success included Paul Dietzel with LSU, Frank Broyles with Arkansas, Ara Parseghian with Notre Dame, Jim Owens with Washington, and Eddie Robinson of Grambling State.

Deadspin

In 2013, Deadspin broke the news that the reported September 2012 death of the girlfriend of Notre Dame All-American linebacker Manti Te'o, which Te'o had said inspired him during the 2012 season, was apparently a hoax.

Delores Brumfield

At 15, Brumfield entered the league in 1947 with the South Bend Blue Sox, a squad managed by Chet Grant, a former Notre Dame football player and the sports editor for the South Bend Tribune.

J. R. Russell

He was re-signed to the Bucs' practice squad on November 30, 2005, and was competing for a spot on the opening day roster, along with former Arizona Cardinals Pro Bowler David Boston and rookie Maurice Stovall from Notre Dame.

John Chironna

Former Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis credited Chironna for influencing his view of football.

Luke Harangody

A Boston company, Cellular Services Worldwide, had obtained public domain photos of Harangody and Irish quarterback Jimmy Clausen and used them in an advertisement on a Notre Dame fan site on the Web.

Michael Haywood

Haywood served as an assistant at several college football programs, most notably under Nick Saban at LSU, under Mack Brown at Texas and under Charlie Weis at his alma mater Notre Dame.

Nate Montana

After graduating from high school in 2008, he enrolled at Notre Dame and joined the Fighting Irish football team's coach Charlie Weis as a walk-on, with the hope of landing a scholarship as a sophomore.

Nina Quartero

Quartero once tried a publicity stunt by claiming that she was betrothed to Notre Dame All-American Quarterback Frank Carideo.

Red Edwards

After graduating from Weston High School in Weston, West Virginia, Edwards would play quarterback for Knute Rockne at the University of Notre Dame.

Rich Glover

The 1972 team team was a pre-season #1 but lost their road opener and finished 9-2-1, rising to fourth in the final AP poll, buoyed by a third consecutive Orange Bowl victory, 40-6 over Notre Dame.

Samuel M. Hammond

Highlights of his one season as coach include a victory of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the DePauw Tigers.


see also

2014 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

The 2014 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represents the University of Notre Dame in the 2014 NCAA Division I FBS football season.