Category: Heisman

Watch: Heisman winner and hall of famer aces famed 17 at Sawgrass

A Notre Dame legend aced a legendary golf hole over the weekend!

Tim Brown had the ability to make a big play from his time at Notre Dame that ended with the 1987 Heisman Trophy to his NFL career with the Raiders that eventually landed him in pro football’s hall of fame.

This weekend Brown took his excitement to a different place, and it was far from a football field.

Participating in Tim Tebow’s Celebrity Golf Tournament at The Players’ Course at Sawgrass, Brown aced the iconic 17th hole on the island green.

Brown played at Notre Dame from 1984-1987 before being selected by the Los Angeles Raiders sixth overall in the 1988 NFL draft.

Related: All of Notre Dame’s first-round NFL draft picks since 1975

A look at Notre Dame’s Heisman Trophy drought

How long until it ends?

Another Heisman weekend. Another year without a Notre Dame winner, let alone a Notre Dame finalist.

Wide receiver [autotag]Tim Brown[/autotag] was the last Notre Dame player to bring home the award 35 long years ago, yet, in spite of that drought, the Fighting Irish still remain atop the leaderboard (tied with Oklahoma, Ohio State and USC) of schools with seven Heisman winners.

[autotag]Manti Te’o[/autotag] came very close in 2012 to interrupting the hiatus, but alas, here we sit waiting for the next Irish great to step to the forefront at the Downtown Athletic Club.

In honor of this weekend’s award ceremony, let’s take a look at the last 35 years and how close the Irish have come to breaking the drought.

Five candidates that could break Notre Dame’s Heisman drought

Who can break this streak?

The Irish are tied for the nations lead with 7 winners of the most prestigious award in college football, the Heisman Trophy and the newest member of the fraternity will be introduced on Saturday night. Unfortunately Notre Dame has not brought the award home to South Bend since wide receiver Tim Brown did in 1987. Linebacker Manti Te’o almost win in 2012, but no dice there. The drought has lasted longer than it should and there are some players that could end that streak. Here are five current or future members of the Irish football team that could eventually raise the Heisman.

Notre Dame’s Ian Book is among the best QB’s in the Nation, but how good? Top 10? Top 5?

Brad Crawford of 247Sports tries to project the top signal callers in the country for this upcoming season. Is Book too high or too low?

With no football on the docket until who knows, plenty of analysts have been pondering who is the best signal caller in the country. 247Sports Brad Crawford tried to tackle this debate and his list is very debatable after he  projected the Top 25 QB’s nationally.

Crawford knows this is extremely subjective, especially in the Top 10, where most should have the same names, but in different orders. Starting from the bottom of the top, Crawford ranks SMU’s Shane Buchele 10th, Iowa State’s Brock Purdy 9th and then Notre Dame’s Ian Book eighth. Purdy and Book went head to head in the Camping World Bowl and it was clear who was the better QB, #12 in Blue and Gold.

After Book, this is where the list becomes very much about potential, and less about experience. Minnesota’s Tanner Morgan is 7th, USC Kedon Slovis 6th, Arizona State’s Jayden Daniels 5th, and North Carolina’s Sam Howell 4th, were all first-year starters last year and put up big numbers. Nobody can disregard their play from last year, but the book is out on them, they won’t surprise anyone this coming season. Putting Book behind these players doesn’t make much sense to me, I believe he’s clearly better than each of those quarterbacks named above, not just based on potential but production as well.

Ian Book is a know commodity, one that has 2 years of experience, putting together back to back impressive seasons. I can’t really complain much about the top 3, Ohio State’s Justin Fields, Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence and Texas’ Sam Ehlinger are all proven commodities. You can argue that Fields doesn’t quite have as much experience as the other two, but he is coming off a Heisman type season where he led his team to an undefeated regular season and College Football Playoff berth.

A 5th year senior should be held in higher esteem than Crawford has rated Book, you can’t teach experience, you have to gain it and Book has plenty of it. Yes, this is just a projection, but if you ask me, Crawford has put a little too much emphasis on potential instead of past performance. Where would you rank Book among his QB peers?

Book’s odds among best with chance to take home the Heisman

Notre Dame’s QB Book’s odd among the best to take home college football most prestigious award.

Las Vegas is referred as the city that never sleeps and they were at it again, with Westgate’s Superbook updating their 2020 Heisman odds 7 months prior to the start of the season. It should not come as a surprise to see Irish QB Ian Book having the 4th best odds, 20/1, to win college footballs highest honor.

Last years winner, national champion QB Joe Burrow from LSU, has exhausted his eligibility, but two of the other four quarterback that were represented in the College Football Playoff return, Ohio State’s Justin Fields and Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence, top the list with 4/1 odds. Newcomer Spencer Rattler having the second-best odds after backing up Oklahoma’s graduating senior Jalen Hurts is behind them at 12/1.

Obviously, the Irish have to battle Clemson and Lawrence on November 7th in South Bend, with RB Travis Etienne having the same odds as Book to win the trophy. Notre Dame will also face USC’s QB Kedon Slovis, who checks in right behind Book with 25/1 odds. The favorites don’t always win the trophy, but the Irish having to face 4 of the heavier favorites in the regular season will provide a tough test for Brian Kelly and crew this coming season.