Tag: Aaron Taylor

Pair of Notre Dame Greats Among College Football HOF Finalists

Notre Dame has the most players enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame and may be getting a pair more this year. Find out more here!

No school has more College Football Hall of Famers than Notre Dame with 44.

USC checks in second with 30, Michigan third with 25 and Ohio State has seen 23 enshrined.

Now Notre Dame has a chance to add a couple more names to that list as two former Irish greats are among the 2020 College Football Hall of Fame finalists that were announced on Tuesday.

Bob Golic starred at linebacker for the Irish from 1975-78 and to this day has the second most tackles in Notre Dame football history with 479.  His 26 tackles against Michigan in 1978 remain the most ever by an Irish player in a single game.  Golic helped Notre Dame to a national championship in 1977 and returned to become a unanimous First-Team All-American and Lombardi Award finalist in 1978.  Golic played for the Patriots, Browns and Oilers during his NFL career that spanned from 1979-1992, earning three Pro Bowl appearances along the way.

Legendary Notre Dame offensive lineman Aaron Taylor is the other finalist.  Taylor was the best member of a road-grading offensive line on the ’92 and ’93 teams, earning All-American honors both seasons and winning the Lombardi Award in ’93.  He helped guide Notre Dame to four straight bowl games and nearly capped his college career with a 1993 national championship before being selected in the first round of the 1994 NFL Draft by the Green Bay Packers.

Raghib “Rocket” Ismail is the most recent Notre Dame player to earn selection into the College Football Hall of Fame, doing so in the 2019 class.

For the criteria for Hall of Fame consideration, click ahead…

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2 Notre Dame Players Named to ESPN’s All-Time All-American Teams

On the list, two former Notre Dame players were named, but neither to the first-team.

ESPN released their All-Time All-America college football team on Thursday for the 150th anniversary of college football.  On the list, two former Notre Dame players were named, but neither to the first-team.

First up was former Notre Dame offensive tackle Aaron Taylor who was named to the second-team.  Taylor played for the Irish from 1990-93 and helped make holes for the likes of Reggie Brooks, Jerome Bettis, Lee Becton and Ray Zellars to run through.  Taylor was twice a consensus All-American in 1992 and ’93 and won both the Lombardi and Jim Parker Awards in 1993.  He was an absolute monster that would help lead the Green Bay Packers to a Super Bowl XXXI crown at the next level, as well.

The only other Notre Dame representative was Tim Brown who was given the second-team all-purpose position.  Brown won Notre Dame’s most recent Heisman in 1987 but had an insane career leading up to that despite the Irish going just 25-21 in his four seasons in South Bend.

Brown finished his Notre Dame career with over 5000 total yards, 2935 of which came from scrimmage.  He also found the end zone 22 times while wearing blue and gold.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9T67HDocsEY&w=560&h=315]

Perhaps I’m a bit biased but I’d have considered Quenton Nelson for an offensive guard position.  His highlight tape is as impressive as you’ll ever find for a guard and I know Notre Dame never won big during his tenure but he’s an extremely-rare case that made drafting an offensive guard in the top-ten a cool pick.