There’s something about jersey numbers that add to the mystique in sports. Whenever great players are talked about, the numbers they wear take on extra meaning. As time goes on, debates rage about who the best was to wear that particular number. Often times, the sports even intersect in those debates.
In 2014, Sports Illustrated (remember it?) published a book called Any Given Number: Who Wore It Best, from 00 to 99 about this very subject. On the way to running down each number, the book dedicates a couple pages to college football programs who have had consistent success with one number at one position. Among them are No. 55 for USC linebackers, No. 1 for Michigan receivers, No. 12 for Alabama quarterbacks and No. 44 for Syracuse.
Also included on these pages are quarterbacks who wore No. 3 for Notre Dame. The Irish haven’t had a quarterback wear that number since [autotag]Avery Davis[/autotag] played under center in 2018, his first season with the program. So naturally, it’s been a long time since the number meant anything for Irish quarterbacks. Still, it’s fun to look at history.
Here the are five Irish quarterbacks the book mentions made No. 3 a special number at that position: