Watch: Bryant Young welcomes Patrick Willis to Hall of Fame

Tears will be shed when you see this.

One of the coolest parts about the Pro Football Hall of Fame is how new inductees are informed of their honor. There are a few methods in which to do so, but the one that has grabbed most people’s attention in recent years is the knock on the door behind which the new Hall of Famer is. It used to be the door of a hotel room, but it now is the door of the new inductee’s home.

Former Notre Dame defensive tackle [autotag]Bryant Young[/autotag], a 2022 Hall of Fame inductee, recently was given the privilege of knocking on the door of Patrick Willis, a rookie during Young’s final season with the San Francisco 49ers. Here’s the big moment, and you might want to grab some tissues before you watch:

Those are the tears of a man whose years of hard work and sacrifice have paid off. Sure, a Super Bowl win is nice, but only 378 individuals are permanent residents of Canton, Ohio. When you earn that honor, nothing feels better other than getting married and becoming a parent.

Congratulations to Patrick and all the other members of the Class of 2024.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

The Xs and Os with Greg Cosell: Previewing Week 18’s biggest NFL matchups

In this week’s “Xs and Os with Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar,” the guys preview the final week of the regular season with tape and metrics.

It’s time for Week 18 of the 2023 NFL campaign — the final week of the regular season — and Greg Cosell of NFL Films and ESPN’s NFL Matchup, and Doug Farrar of Touchdown Wire and the USA Today Sports Media Group, are here to get you ready for the most important games, playoff scenarios, and interesting matchups:

Kansas City Chiefs-Los Angeles Chargers — Why the Chiefs wouldn’t even be a playoff team without Steve Spagnuolo, and how Kansas City’s defense got four sacks in five plays against the Bengals on Cincinnati’s final drive.

Philadelphia Eagles-New York Giants — The Eagles had best fix their leaky run defense before the playoffs, and the Giants could be a stern test in that regard.

Houston Texans- Indianapolis Colts — C.J. Stroud is back for the Texans, and he’ll face a Colts defense with a lot of underrated players. The winner takes the AFC South.

Los Angeles Rams-San Francisco 49ers — The 49ers have wrapped up the NFC’s one-seed, so they won’t play many of their starters, but it’s time to recognize a Rams defense defined by two rookies, and more underrated players.

Buffalo Bills-Miami Dolphins — Two up-and-down teams are fighting for control of the AFC East, and it could come down to which unit figures itself out: Buffalo’s offense, or Miami’s defense.

Chicago Bears-Green Bay Packers — The Bears won’t make the playoffs, but they have a fascinating decision to make about Justin Fields’ future. Meanwhile, Packers quarterback Jordan Love has been as good as anyone at his position in the second half of the season.

You can watch this week’s “Xs and Os with Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar” right here:

You can also listen and subscribe to the “Xs and Os” podcast on Spotify…

…and on Apple Podcasts.

Notre Dame football: Epic father-son recruiting brief

When the past meets the present…

If you have followed college football recruiting for longer than the last decade, you’re likely aware of the name Tom Lemming.  Those who follow it somewhat closely already know the name, but for those that don’t, consider him the college equivalent of Mel Kiper, Jr. to the NFL draft.  Lemming has been crossing the nation for decades following and covering the college football recruiting scene for longer than it’s been generating web hits.

Lemming was at Notre Dame for the Blue-Gold game recently because it was a big weekend for the Irish and their recruiting efforts. While there he recorded a very short video that for Notre Dame fans of a certain age accomplishes two things:
  1. Through the roof nostalgia, my goodness.
  2. Makes us feel old.
Take a look at the video below:

 

Lemming notes they were All-Americans in 1989 before joining Notre Dame’s 1990 recruiting class. Of those three, two won Super Bowls and wound up in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The other only played in the NFL for a decade and was once the cover boy for an issue of Sports Illustrated.
Marcus Freeman and company locked down a commitment from the younger of the Young’s. Perhaps the Mini Bus and the younger Flanigan will not be far behind.
Unrelated: You better believe one of the very first pro football jerseys I ever had was a Bears No. 99 with FLANIGAN on the back.
Also – be sure to check out a handful of photos of Bettis, Flanigan and Young during their playing days at Notre Dame below.

Gallery: Hall of Famer Bryant Young

Congrats to a legend!

Late Thursday night at the annual NFL awards show the 2022 Pro Football Hall of Fame class was announced and the latest former Golden Domer is headed to Canton as legendary defensive lineman Bryant Young was elected.

Young played his entire NFL career with the 49ers after being drafted in 1994 but had quite the Notre Dame career as well as he was a key component to a program that saw wins in major bowl games following the 1991, 1992, and 1993 regular seasons, and we all know how 1993 should have ended.

In honor of Young being elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame take a look back at his incredible career with the best photos of him both at Notre Dame and with the 49ers:

Pro Football Hall of Famers by college

Who is the most surprising (either included or not)?

The 2022 Pro Football Hall of Fame class was unveiled just before Super Bowl LVI as eight legendary football players are now headed to Canton where they’ll be put among football’s immortals.

Have you ever wondered where the best to ever do it went to college though?

Here are the ten college football programs to have produced the most Pro Football Hall of Fame members of any.

Notre Dame football: Kennedy Urlacher commitment announcement Monday night

Will it be another son of a Pro Football Hall of Famer soon heading to South Bend?

Over the weekend Notre Dame added a commitment from the son of a Pro Football Hall of Fame member when [autotag]Bryce Young[/autotag], the son of Notre Dame and San Francisco 49ers great [autotag]Bryant Young[/autotag], committed to the Irish.

Two days later [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] and company could add another commitment from … well, the son of a Pro Football Hall of Fame member.

[autotag]Urlacher[/autotag], a 6-foot-1 safety out of Chandler, Arizona, is set to announce his college choice at 6 p.m. ET Monday night.  Notre Dame is one of six finalists for the talented safety and, yes, the son of the Chicago Bears linebacking great.

[autotag]Urlacher[/autotag] recently told Irish Breakdown of Notre Dame:

 “Notre Dame brings a great education. I have built really good relationships with the coaches as well. My family and I had a great time on campus a couple of weeks ago.”

Urlacher is a three-star prospect by all of the major recruiting outlets, and he has been heavily pursued by the Notre Dame staff for some time. He was recently on Notre Dame’s campus for the spring game.

The finalists for his commitment aside from Notre Dame are Miami, Penn State, TCU, Kansas State and Illinois.

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Son of Notre Dame legend commits to Irish

Like father like son!

Notre Dame landed its 12th commitment in the 2024 recruiting class on Saturday when defensive end [autotag]Bryce Young[/autotag] of Charlotte announced his intentions to play football for the Irish. Young is a mountain of young man. He stands 6 feet, 5 inches and checks in at 240 pounds.

Young has seen his recruiting profile grow in recent months. When originally offered by Notre Dame, he was rated as a three-star prospect across the board, but he has earned a fourth star from On3 and Rivals. He has also received offers from a few powerhouse programs, including Tennessee and USC.

Young is the son of Notre Dame great and pro football Hall of Famer [autotag]Bryant Young[/autotag] who starred for the Irish in the early 1990’s.  Bryant was drafted seventh by the 49ers in the 1994 NFL draft before going on to a legendary career that included a Super Bowl 29 win.

Bryce chose Notre Dame while holding several offers. The aforementioned Tennessee and USC programs stick out as do Michigan, Miami and Penn State on his offer list.

Young is the 12th commitment in Notre Dame’s 2024 recruiting class and joins [autotag]Owen Wafle[/autotag] and [autotag]Cole Mullins[/autotag] as defensive linemen in the class.

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Notre Dame defensive line target Bryce Young ready to commit

This would be an Irish legacy.

Notre Dame legacies are one of the greatest sources of pride for the university. The football team might be about to land a big one in Bryce Young, the son of Irish legend and Pro Football Hall of Famer [autotag]Bryant Young[/autotag]. Like his father before him, the younger Young is a defensive lineman, and he will announce his college decision Saturday. While USC, Michigan and Tennessee are finalists, many project him to pick to the Irish.

The similarities between Young and fellow Irish target Micah Gilbert don’t stop with who’s seeking their services. Both are four-star 2024 recruits, and both are teammates at Charlotte Christian in North Carolina. Additionally, Gilbert also is projected to pick the Irish when he makes his own decision next week.

Here’s hoping [autotag]Al Golden[/autotag] and [autotag]Al Washington[/autotag] did enough convincing to bring Young to the Irish. We don’t think our own John Kennedy would take him picking the Trojans very well. So for his sake and everyone else’s, we need common sense to prevail.

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Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

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

Which had the best NFL career?

Notre Dame has had a long history of winning a lot of football games and putting a bunch of talent in the pros.  You know plenty of the names that turned into NFL stars and plenty would didn’t have as great of professional careers, either.

This past NFL draft, [autotag]Kyle Hamilton[/autotag] became the latest former Notre Dame player to become a first-round NFL draft pick.  He joins a long list of Fighting Irish greats that have had their names called in the first round.

Will Michael Mayer become the latest former Fighting Irish star to hear his name called in the first round of the draft?  We’ll find out the evening of April 27.

[autotag]Jerome Bettis[/autotag], [autotag]Tim Brown[/autotag], and [autotag]Bryant Young[/autotag] are just a few of the greats who have been first-round picks.  Below is the entire list of first-round NFL draft picks that Notre Dame has produced since 1975.

 

Wisconsin offers son of NFL Hall of Famer

Wisconsin offered Bryce Young, a four-star class of 2024 edge rusher and son of Hall of Famer Bryant Young on Monday.

Wisconsin offered Bryce Young, a four-star edge rusher from Charlotte, North Carolina on Monday. The 6-foot-5, 240 pound junior still has one more year of high school football before he could potentially make the leap to join a college program in 2024.

Young is the son of NFL Hall of Famer Bryant Young (class of 2022), who registered 618 career tackles, including 89.5 sacks over 208 games with the San Francisco 49ers.

Considering his father went to Notre Dame and Bryce has received an offer from the school, they currently appear to be the favorites to land him in 2024, but the Badgers are certainly not out of it yet.

With new head coach Luke Fickell and defensive coordinator Mike Tressel, Wisconsin could attract the talented athlete to play in Camp Randall.

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