Category: Irish in NFL

Kyle Hamilton throws out first pitch at Orioles game

It wasn’t thrown hard but it was certainly over the plate

It was a Notre Dame connection on Tuesday night at Camden Yards in Baltimore when Ravens first round draft pick [autotag]Kyle Hamilton[/autotag] threw out the first pitch ahead of the Orioles home game against the Washington Nationals.

Hamilton wasn’t the only Domer participating however as former Notre Dame baseball star and current Oriole [autotag]Trey Mancini[/autotag] caught the first pitch.  You can check out Hamilton’s toss below,

Hopefully Hamilton brings more luck to the Ravens this year than he did the Orioles as they fell 3-0 and recorded just three hits in the contest.

Related:

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Notre Dame in NFL: Former first round pick waived

Here’s hoping he finds a new football home soon.

Former Notre Dame star defensive lineman [autotag]Jerry Tillery[/autotag]’s time with the Los Angeles Chargers is done. The Chargers announced Thursday evening they had waived Tillery. He had missed practice this past week due to a personal matter according to our colleagues at Chargers Wire.  He had also been dealing with a back injury he suffered during a lifting session.

Tillery was selected by the Chargers 28th in the 2019 NFL draft. Until [autotag]Kyle Hamilton[/autotag] was selected by the Ravens this year, Tillery had been Notre Dame’s most recent first-round selection. In four seasons with the Chargers, Tillery recorded 10.5 sacks, 12 tackles for loss and 106 total tackles.

Tillery turned 26 last month. Assuming his back isn’t a major issue, you would have to assume he’ll get another NFL opportunity. Here’s to good health and a fresh start soon for perhaps the biggest star on Notre Dame’s 2018 defense.

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Related:
Every Notre Dame player selected in first round of NFL draft since 1975

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Former Domer breaks foot in NFL

What do you expect from Williams as a rookie now?

Former Notre Dame running back [autotag]Kyren Williams[/autotag] isn’t off to the start with the Los Angeles Rams that anyone would have liked.  On Tuesday, Rams head coach Sean McVay announced that Williams broke his foot at practice last week and is expected to be out until the early part of training camp in July.

“He got surgery, everything went really well,” McVay said. “And we expect him to be back at some point in the earlier parts of training camp. But he’s gonna attack the rehab the right way and it’s an unfortunate setback and he’s gonna attack his rehab the right way and be back sooner than later.”

The Rams moved up in the fifth found in this past April’s NFL draft to select Williams 164th overall.  He’s expected to be the Rams third back behind Cam Akers and Darrell Henderson.

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Kyle Rudolph through the years

What is your favorite highlight of Rudolph’s long NFL career?

If it seems like it was forever ago that Kyle Rudolph was wowing football fans at Notre Dame it’s because it has been.

If just over a decade is forever, anyway.

That’s how long ago it was when Rudolph left Notre Dame after his junior season and was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the second round.  Rudolph was cut by the Giants on Wednesday, nearly a year to date that drafted him, the Vikings, putting an end to an impressive run with them. Rudolph is easily one of “Tight End U’s” best to ever do it.

Here is a look back at Rudolph during his time both at Notre Dame, the Minnesota Vikings, and a few pictures from his one-year stop with the New York Giants:

Every Notre Dame player to win a Super Bowl

Which of these players did you root the hardest for?

When you have as long and as distinguished of football tradition as Notre Dame you’re going to have a lot of players who make a good amount of money on Sunday.  How many of those players however reached the pinnacle of football and won a Super Bowl?

Notre Dame will be represented by the NFC champions this year as they have at least one player remaining on each of the remaining NFC squads.  The AFC is a different story though as the Irish won’t be represented by an active player.

Paul Hornung was the first Golden Domer to win a Super Bowl title, which came in Super Bowl I while Ben Skowronek became the 45th to in Super Bowl LVI.  So who were the 43 to win an NFL title in-between?

Here is a quick look at every Notre Dame player to win a Super Bowl.

 

Please note: Jerome Collins received a ring with the Colts in Super Bowl XLI but was on injured reserve.  Michael Floyd received a ring with the Patriots in Super Bowl LI but was not on the active roster for that game

Former Notre Dame and XFL tight end signs with Titans

Hello Nashville!

A former Notre Dame standout is headed back to the NFL after having a productive season in the XFL.  [autotag]Alize Mack[/autotag], who caught four touchdown passes as a senior in 2018 for the Irish, has signed with the Tennessee Titans.

The 6-5, 247-pounder caught 28 passes for 230 yards for San Antonio of the XFL this season.  He had been a seventh round draft pick of the New Orleans Saints in 2019.  Mack has spent time on the practice squads of the Saints, Steelers, Chiefs, and Packers previously.

A roster spot is anything but a certainty for Mack as the Titans now employee seven different tight ends.

See some of the best photos of Alize Mack during his time at Notre Dame below!

ESPN: Quinn Disappoints as NFL Quarterback

Although Irish QB Brady Quinn had a stellar career in South Bend, that success did not translate over to the highest level.

Irish Nation celebrated the huge recruiting win over Midwest powers Ohio State and Michigan when Brady Quinn announced his commitment to Notre Dame. His career in Blue and Gold was a record setting one, 36 of them, during his four years with the Irish. Quinn would win the Unitas Golden Arm Award and the Maxwell in his senior year, setting up what should have been a fantastic professional career.

Quinn would then be drafted 22nd overall by Cleveland, the second QB taken in a weak class (all-time bust JaMarcus Russell from LSU went 1st overall), would return to his home state and be the Browns savior. Quinn never really got an opportunity to start for the Browns, playing a total of 14 games over 3 seasons, went to Denver and didn’t get his shot there either. Finally, an opportunity in Kansas City in 2012, but a missed one which saw Quinn start 10 games but have a 2 to 8 TD to INT ratio. A few years later, Quinn was out of the league.

ESPN this morning reminisced about collegiate players whose stars shone bright but never made it at the highest level. Two of their writers, Ivan Maisel and Adam Rittenberg, chose Quinn as their player who didn’t translate their collegiate success to the NFL. Maisel didn’t just pick Quinn, but more the 2007 QB draft class with the aforementioned Russell along with the Heisman winner Troy Smith, Kevin Kolb of Houston and others. The “nine quarterbacks, none of whom threw for more than 6.033 yards or 28 touchdowns in their NFL careers,” Maisel explained. Quinn wasn’t the only prospect to underachieve that year.

Rittenberg was more focused on Quinn as opposed to the entire QB class like Maisel. “Quinn looked like the perfect NFL prospect, playing in the perfect system to prepare him for the next level and with the perfect coach in Weis,” Rittenberg remembers. The kicker here is that Rittenberg opines that Quinn’s career might have been completely different had he not been drafted by the miserable Browns. In Quinn’s time in the NFL the Browns combined to start 12 different quarterbacks, who compiled a 37-75 record and became a grave for QB’s. Rittenberg might have a point here, but even when Quinn exited Cleveland, his struggles continued.

Brady Quinn will go down as one of the all-time great quarterbacks in Notre Dame history. It would have been fantastic for him to continue his success in the NFL but that wasn’t in the cards. Regardless, fond memories of Quinn’s time in South Bend will always trump his time in the League.

Notre Dame great Quenton Nelson through the years

Happy birthday @BigQ56! @thecoltswire

Before he was mauling opponents across the NFL for the Indianapolis Colts, Quenton Nelson was busy doing the same thing at Notre Dame.  The prized recruit from Red Bank Catholic in New Jersey didn’t play as a freshman for the Irish in 2014 but saw plenty of the field in 2015 before starting both in ’16 and ’17.

He’s wowed football fans with his highlights in Indianapolis but those such plays were happening for a team located roughly 150 miles north of the Colts.  Nelson not only not winning but not being a finalist for the Outland Trophy in 2017 will forever be a miss by football writers, but despite that I’d say he’s doing just fine.

For a place that has produced some legendary offensive lineman, Nelson stacks up with any.

Nelson is one of three former Notre Dame greats to share a birthday on March 19, as Rick Mirer and Julian Love are also blowing out candles.  Celebrate Big Q’s birthday by taking a look back at his memorable time at Notre Dame.

 

NFL draft 2023: Mayer moves up in latest College Wire mock

Good: more money going higher. The Bad: This franchise has done next to nothing right recently.

We’re almost certain that tight end [autotag]Michael Mayer[/autotag] will be a first-round pick in April’s NFL draft, but how early he gets his name called remains to be seen. Last week we looked at Patrick Conn’s College Wire mock draft 4.0 that had Mayer going to the Patriots with the 14th pick.

This week Conn updated his mock draft, expanding to the first two rounds.  Mayer moved up two spots from a week ago, this time going 12th overall to the Texans. Here is what Conn had to say about Mayer this week:

The team added a quarterback with its first selection (C.J. Stroud), now we add a viable passing option to help the offense. Mayer is a threat any time he touches the ball and could be the next young tight end to explode at the NFL level.

Based on the last five years or so, its difficult to get very excited about anything the Texans do. However, the extra pay Mayer would receive if he were to go 12th instead of 14th would certainly be nice.

One other thing of note is that despite projecting the first two rounds this week, Conn did not have Notre Dame’s all-time sacks leader Isaiah Foskey getting selected in the first 63 picks.

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Every Notre Dame player ever drafted by the Baltimore Ravens

Who is your favorite player to have played at both Notre Dame and for the @TheRavensWire?

The Baltimore Ravens only came into existence in 1996 but in that roughly quarter century they’ve developed some roots with Notre Dame.

When safety Kyle Hamilton was announced as the Ravens’ first-round pick in the 2022 NFL draft, he became the ninth former Notre Dame player to have his name called by the Baltimore Ravens.

That makes it less than every three years that the Ravens take a Golden Domer.

Hamilton paid instant dividends for the Ravens in 2022 as he graded out as one of the top safeties in the entire NFL according to Pro Football Focus.  Could another former Notre Dame star be joining the Ravens soon?  We’ll know later this month when the 2023 NFL draft takes place in Kansas City.