Nobody does the tight end position better than Notre Dame. Year in and year out you look at the NFL Draft and another Notre Dame tight end is getting their name called. In a few short weeks Cole Kmet will become the latest on that list.
In the midst of the sports abyss we currently sit in the Notre Dame Athletics YouTube Page has been posting top-ten lists of various events over the years and counting down some of the best plays we’ve seen from Notre Dame athletes.
Their latest honors the great tight ends that have come through Notre Dame and the best plays they’ve made over time. Without spoiling the list go ahead and watch it and then we’ll react.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tA-H3rV47Y8&w=560&h=315]
My immediate thought is without the impact of the play, the most impressive is Irv Smith’s at three. What Smith did to those pour Hoosier souls sent football back three decades in Bloomington.
The two ahead of it obviously led directly to a national championship being won so even if they weren’t the most impressive plays like Smith’s was, I can’t argue for a second against either being ranked ahead of it.
The Rudolph play against Michigan in 2010 was one of the most-exciting I’ve been in attendance for, it’s just too bad nobody could tackle Denard Robinson that afternoon.
You could really put five through nine in any order and I don’t think anyone would be too upset. The Rudolph game-winner at Purdue saved things from going south that season. Well, for a few weeks, anyway.
If there was one that didn’t make the list that I always remember it’s the Jabari Holloway fumble recovery to take the lead against USC in 1999. It didn’t save a memorable season by any means but it did help complete an epic comeback against Notre Dame’s biggest rival.
Then again, it wasn’t a catch.