Category: Irish in NFL

Watch: Quenton Nelson vs. A Punter

I can’t personally think of more than a couple people in the NFL who’d be a worse matchup in a fight for a punter than one Quenton Nelson.

I admit, that headline makes me think to a certain degree that Quenton Nelson for some reason laid one of his highlight blocks on a punter Sunday, as the Colts were getting ready to take on the Buccaneers in Tampa.

Before the matchup began however it was Bucs punter Bradley Pinion, a Clemson product, who had a pregame punt hit Nelson, who was going through his warmup on the other side of the field, in the head.

Nelson was reported to be none too pleased as you’ll see below, and confronted Pinion himself.

Nelson punts the ball in the video after a second punt lands closer to him than he’d like.

The Colts entered the day 6-6 on the year and two games behind Houston for the AFC South lead.

I can’t personally think of more than a couple people in the NFL who’d be a worse matchup in a fight for a punter than one Quenton Nelson.

Irish in the NFL: DeShone Kizer elevated to backup QB

The Oakland Raiders have bumped former Notre Dame QB DeShone Kizer to number two on the depth chart, and plan to activate him Sunday.

Former Notre Dame quarterback DeShone Kizer is inching closer to being a starting NFL quarterback.

The third-string QB for the Raiders behind Derek Carr and Mike Glennon for the majority of the 2019 season, Kizer was recently informed that he has passed Glennon on the depth chart and will be active for the first time this season on Sunday against the Titans.

“We’ve looked at him and we’ve made the decision that we’re going to move him up to the number two spot this week,” said offensive coordinator Greg Olson. “But I’ll let Jon [Gruden] answer those questions in regards to the entire depth chart and the decisions that were made there. We do like what we’ve seen out of DeShone.”

Glennon fumbled twice against the Jets two weeks ago when he came in to replace Carr in a blowout loss.

Kizer is a third-year vet who signed with Oakland just before the season started, and has spent the entire year getting caught up.

It appears he is ready to go now, and should anything happen to Carr he would be the man under center for this Raiders squad.

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Notre Dame Football: We’ve Got a Forum!

We have launched a forum for exactly that and it costs you nothing to be a contributing part of the message board.

Hey you.

Yeah, you.

Have you been looking for somewhere other than Facebook or Twitter to share your thoughts about your favorite college sports team?

Good news.

We have launched a forum for exactly that and it costs you nothing to be a contributing part of the message board.

Mad about last night’s game?

Have a best guess on who the bowl opponent will be?

Or do you need to vent because your favorite player isn’t getting the respect they deserve nationally?

Now you’ve got a community to share all of your thoughts on all things Notre Dame athletics.

Simply go to our Fighting Irish Forum, create an entirely free account and start posting your thoughts immediately.  It’s as easy as that!

We hope to see you and your thoughts over there soon.

Thanks and Go Irish!

Notre Dame Football: Jones Headed to Collegiate Bowl

Others are taking notice of the late charge Jones has put on as well as he will be a part of the NFLPA Collegiate Game

Jamir Jones saved his best for last at Notre Dame, having easily his best year in his senior season.

The Rochester, New York product finished the regular season with career-highs in tackles with 24, forced fumbles with two and sacks after registering four-and-a-half this season.

Others are taking notice of the late charge Jones has put on as well as he will be a part of the NFLPA Collegiate Game held at the Rose Bowl Stadium on January 18.

Jamir is the brother of former Notre Dame defensive lineman Jarron, who has been a part of several NFL practice squads and was drafted in the first round of the XFL’s linemen draft back in October.

Irish in the NFL: Make A Bennett Jackson Movie Already

Bennett was back for camp with the Giants in 2015 but tore his ACL in their second pre-season game, missing the entire year.  The Giants would end up releasing him at the end of pre-season the following year.

You ever have a player in any sport you take a special fandom to for an odd reason?  We all do, that’s a silly question.

Here’s the tale of one of mine, a Notre Dame grad who is pretty much the NFL example of Rudy.

Do you remember Bennett Jackson, the former Notre Dame cornerback?

Jackson was a member of the Notre Dame football team from 2010-2013 and a starting cornerback on the 2012 team that wound up playing for the national championship game.  After an entirely random encounter and high-five with him after the Michigan game in 2012, I took a special-liking to the young man.

After his eligibility was up in 2013 he was drafted by the New York Giants in the sixth round of the 2014 NFL Draft and was signed to their practice squad that fall.

Bennett was back for camp with the Giants in 2015 but tore his ACL in their second pre-season game, missing the entire year.  The Giants would end up releasing him at the end of pre-season the following year.

Fast forward to 2018 and Jackson still hadn’t let that dream of playing in a regular season NFL game go and in January of ’18, he signed a reserve/future contract with the Baltimore Ravens.

Unfortunately injury again hit Jackson who was put on Injured Reserve on August 31 before being released a week later.

Yet he didn’t quit, instead fought to get back and re-signed with the Ravens practice squad that November.  Shortly after their season concluded the Ravens and Jackson then agreed to another reserve/future contract.

However again at the end of this past pre-season Jackson was waived by the Ravens before being claimed by the New York Jets a day later.  He was waived by the Jets on September 16 before having played in a regular season for the Jets, but did sign with their practice squad.

Finally on October 15 the Ravens signed Jackson to their active roster, the only way they could get him off the Jets practice squad.

Jackson played in his first NFL game five days later, playing 14 special teams plays and one defensive snap when the Ravens won at Seattle, 30-16.

He’d play three more games for the Ravens, getting a career-high 22 defensive snaps played in their November 11 rout of Cincinnati.

Jackson was however waived Monday by Baltimore but not out of work long as Tuesday he again was signed by the Jets.

Props to him for never giving up on his dream regardless of how many times he was hit with injuries or cut.  Whether he takes another snap in an NFL regular season game or not his story is already Hollywood-worthy.

 

Irish in the NFL: Kyle Rudolph Finds the End Zone. Again.

After failing to find the end zone the first six weeks of the season, Rudolph has now done so six times in the six games since.

For the sixth time in the last six games, Minnesota Vikings tight end and Notre Dame product Kyle Rudolph found the end zone, cutting the Seahawks lead on Monday Night Football to just four.

Like we’ve seen from Rudolph time and time again, it was a one-handed snag that wound up a score.

It’s starting to feel like a weekend tradition here on Fighting Irish Wire, recapping Rudolph’s score.

After failing to find the end zone the first six weeks of the season, Rudolph has now done so six times in the six games since.

Rudolph’s catch and score wasn’t enough however as the Vikings fell to Seattle, 37-30 and to 8-4 on the season.

Irish in the NFL: Bennett Jackson waived by Ravens

Former Notre Dame Irish safety Bennett Jackson was waived by the Baltimore Ravens after the 28-year-old made his NFL debut this year.

The Baltimore Ravens waived former Notre Dame safety Bennett Jackson on Monday. He is now a free agent.

An immediate roster move was not announced, but the Ravens are expected to activate safety Brynden Trawick from the injured reserve to take his place.

Jackson has primarily been a special teamer in his time with the Ravens, which began in Week 7. He was active in four of the team’s six games since then, recording two combined tackles.

It was Jackson’s first NFL action, despite being drafted in the sixth round way back in 2014 by the New York Giants. A plethora of time on the practice squad and on the injured reserve prevented Jackson from actually playing until this year, at age 28.

Jackson starred at Notre Dame from 2010-2013, recording six interceptions and 158 combined tackles in the secondary for the Irish.

Now, he’ll have to work hard to find another team willing to take on a 28-year-old journeyman – but at least he was able to realize his goal of playing in an NFL game with Baltimore.

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Irish in the NFL: Chargers sign cornerback KeiVarae Russell

The Los Angeles Chargers signed former Notre Dame Fighting Irish cornerback KeiVarae Russell to their practice squad.

The Los Angeles Chargers signed former Notre Dame Fighting Irish defensive back KeiVarae Russell to their practice squad on Tuesday.

Russell starred at Notre Dame for three seasons, missing the 2014 season with an injury but returning his senior year to record 48 solo tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, one sack, two interceptions and two forced fumbles.

That was enough for him to get picked in the third round of the 2016 NFL draft by the Chiefs – but not enough for him to stick with them, as he was released in September of that year.

He caught on with the Bengals and appeared in 20 games with them over the last three seasons, recording one interception, two passes defended and 17 solo tackles as a backup defensive back and a special teams contributor.

Cincinnati cut him just before the start of the 2019 season however, and he has remained without a team until Los Angeles signed him on Tuesday.

The former Irish cornerback will have a long road ahead of him to make it onto LA’s active roster, but at least he’s back in the NFL for now.

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Ricky Watters named Pro Football Hall of Fame semifinalist

Former Notre Dame Fighting Irish running back Ricky Watters is one of 25 finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame’s modern era ballot was cut from 122 all the way down to 25, but former Notre Dame Fighting Irish running back Ricky Watters made it through the second round of cuts, and is still eligible for induction as a member of the class of 2020.

The ballot will be pared down to 15 at some point in January, before the five inductees are announced on the Saturday before the Super Bowl.

Watters was named to five straight Pro Bowls from 1992-1996, and was a Super Bowl champion in 1994 with the San Francisco 49ers. His career was cut short by injuries, but he was arguably a top-two running back in the NFL in the early-1990’s, and still finished with 10,643 rushing yards and 78 rushing touchdowns, both just outside the top-20 of all-time.

Watters starred at Notre Dame before getting drafted 45th overall by the 49ers in the 1991 NFL draft. He rushed for 1,814 yards and 21 touchdowns with the Irish, while also hauling in 610 receiving yards.

He also excelled as a punt returner, leading the NCAA in punt return touchdowns in 1988, with two.

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Irish in the NFL: Boykin Shines Again in LA Coliseum

Boykin caught 77 passes and 11 touchdowns at Notre Dame but I’ll always remember this block before anything else he did in blue and gold.

With the Baltimore Ravens playing on and owning Monday Night Football this week it meant for a chance for the nation to get a closeup of MVP-frontrunner, Lamar Jackson.  Before we get to the Notre Dame connection to this game let me just say that his meteoric rise to super-stardom makes me incredibly happy to be wrong about what he might be able to do in the NFL.

He’s not only the most exciting player going this season but he’s also got to be the favorite to win the MVP award after doing what he did to the Patriots a couple weeks ago on Sunday Night Football and again for his five touchdown passes and complete domination of the Rams on Monday Night Football.

Now to the Notre Dame side of this game:

Miles Boykin must have a thing for the Los Angeles Coliseum.  In last year’s regular season finale you may remember what he did to spring Tony Jones, Jr. to the end zone to clinch a 12-0 regular season.

Boykin caught 77 passes and 11 touchdowns at Notre Dame but I’ll always remember this block before anything else he did in blue and gold.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0EX041dKQw&w=560&h=315]

Well, Boykin was at it again Monday night as the Ravens embarrassed the reigning NFC Champs on their home field, 45-6.

It may have been out of hand at this point but its remarkable to me how Boykin’s highlight catch tonight occurs in almost the exact same spot as his block, nearly exactly a year to the day, that sent the Fighting Irish to their first College Football Playoff appearance. (Shoutout to Austin Hough of The Goshen News for pointing that out to me on Twitter).

I also wouldn’t be doing my proper work if I didn’t send mad-praise the way of Ronnie Stanley who has been an absolute monster for the Ravens and is a huge reason their downright nasty rushing attack works as well as it does.

The Ravens now sit at 9-2 on the season and atop the AFC North standings.  Along with Boykin and Stanley, former Notre Dame corner back Bennett Jackson, Jr. is also currently on the Ravens roster.