Tag: John Huarte

All-time Notre Dame NFL draft selections: New York Jets edition

Notre Dame’s ties with the New York Jets aren’t exactly extensive…

The New York Jets came into existence in 1960 as the New York Titans of the AFL.  They kept that name for three seasons before switching to the Jets in 1963 and their AFL and Super Bowl championships in 1968 played a huge part in the eventual AFL-NFL merger.

History hasn’t been so kind to the Jets however as they’ve never gotten back to the Super Bowl since Joe Namath’s famed guarantee over the Colts in January of 1969 and they’re a franchise that went just 6-27 from 2020-2021.  Last year saw a turn however as they still finished in last place in their division, but won seven games.  Could a playoff spot be in the picture this year?

It hasn’t happened often but perhaps a Notre Dame player could be on their way to get drafted by the Jets.  It’s something that has happened just four times before.

Here are the four former Notre Dame players to ever be drafted by the New York Jets:

Caleb Williams creates special, historic link with 1964 Heisman Trophy winner who lost to USC

1964 #Heisman winner John Huarte, one of @IrishWireND’s favorite #NotreDame players, is now linked in the history books with #USC’s Caleb Williams.

It’s always fun when big, new moments in sports create big, new facts connecting eras, generations, and rival teams or competitors.

Whenever Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic won a major championship in men’s tennis, they would create an impressive, new fact about their rivalry with each other and their respective rivalries with Roger Federer.

When Tom Brady or a Manning brother won a Super Bowl, the rivalry between Brady and the Mannings would take on new dimensions.

When Steph Curry or LeBron James win the NBA Finals, the contours and comparisons involved in their respective NBA journeys would become sharper, more defined, and historically resonant.

At the 2022 Heisman Trophy ceremony, the rivalry between USC and Notre Dame in major college football gained a new and fascinating fact. These two schools are part of the greatest intersectional rivalry in college football, and one of the best intersectional rivalries in American sports, right up there with Lakers-Celtics and Dodgers-Yankees.

Here is the big, new fact to savor after Caleb Williams won the 2022 Heisman this past weekend in New York:

John Huarte was honored in Los Angeles the day before Caleb Williams beat the Fighting Irish in the Coliseum and locked down the 2022 Heisman.

Huarte won the 1964 Heisman. Notably, USC denied him and Notre Dame the 1964 national championship with a historic upset of the Irish in the Coliseum. The cover photo for this story shows John Huarte in that 1964 Notre Dame-USC game, one of the most significant in the history of the series.

Listen to our Rockne Society podcast for more on the Nov. 25 event in which John Huarte and other Notre Dame alumni were honored in L.A. the day before this year’s Irish-Trojan game:

[mm-video type=video id=01gkscw7d8dfrcy52vdz playlist_id=none player_id=01f5k5y2jb3twsvdg4 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01gkscw7d8dfrcy52vdz/01gkscw7d8dfrcy52vdz-eb11f97406c4ddb7e08aa50e4355fd54.jpg]

[listicle id=53957]

USC defeated John Huarte, but Irish Heisman winner will always remain a giant

Notre Dame legend and 1964 #Heisman Trophy winner John Huarte will be honored in Los Angeles just before the Irish play #USC.

John Huarte is one of the most improbable Heisman Trophy winners of all time. USC upset Notre Dame in 1964, knocking the Irish out of the hunt for the national championship, but that didn’t prevent Huarte from winning the fabled stiff-arm trophy.

Huarte will be honored in person at the Knute Rockne Memorial Society’s Spirit of Sports Awards Celebration on Friday at lunchtime in The Center at Cathedral Plaza, located at 555 West Temple Street in Los Angeles.

Huarte is just one of several distinguished Notre Dame alumni who will be in Los Angeles at this event, part of the festivities for the Notre Dame-USC weekend, the first Irish-Trojan game held in L.A. since 2018.

Fighting Irish Wire wrote this about Huarte on his birthday in 2020:

“Before there was Joe Burrow or Cam Newton coming out of absolutely nowhere to win the Heisman Trophy, there was a young man by the name of John Huarte.

“Huarte split time at quarterback with Frank Budka in 1963 as Notre Dame went just 2-7 in what was a truly awful year.  One fall later though, the Fighting Irish had hired Ara Parseghian and began one of the all-time turnarounds in college football history.”

Read more about Huarte in the Fighting Irish Wire piece, and learn more about Notre Dame-USC history (among other subjects) at the Knute Rockne Memorial Society, whose gathering has brought John Huarte to L.A. for this big weekend.

[mm-video type=video id=01gjh429qnjngb5r51xa playlist_id=none player_id=01f5k5y2jb3twsvdg4 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01gjh429qnjngb5r51xa/01gjh429qnjngb5r51xa-a9b5c794fc580071576d626687a11d64.jpg]

[listicle id=52621]

Notre Dame football’s top quarterback recruits since 2000

Which Notre Dame quarterback were you most excited for before they ever played a down for the Irish?

Over the years Notre Dame has had more than a couple great quarterbacks.

[autotag]Joe Theismann[/autotag], [autotag]John Huarte[/autotag], [autotag]Tom Clements[/autotag], [autotag]Joe Montana[/autotag], [autotag]Rick Mirer[/autotag], and [autotag]Ron Powlus[/autotag] are just a few of the all-time signal callers the university has had.  All of those men came to Notre Dame during much different times however, as recruiting and the available information around it has changed significantly over the years.

[autotag]Brady Quinn[/autotag], [autotag]Jimmy Clausen[/autotag], and [autotag]Ian Book[/autotag] are a few of the best Notre Dame has had at the position since the year 2000, but how were each rated as recruits?  And just how high might the next quarterback commitment check in in these rankings?

247Sports has compiled a list of Notre Dame’s quarterback recruits since 2000 and included each of their final recruiting rankings.  Here is how the top 20 turned out.

Notre Dame-USC: fun facts about epic rivalry

For the first time in two fulls years we can say it: Beat SC.

Notre Dame and USC have made up the greatest intersectional rivalries in all of college football for nearly a century and get set to meet for the 92nd time this Saturday in South Bend.

Last year didn’t see the Irish and Trojans meet due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Pac-12 not playing out of conference games, the first time the schools didn’t meet since World War II.

Order is restored and things return to normal this Saturday as Notre Dame welcomes USC to South Bend as the rivalry gets renewed once again.

Ever wondered how these two programs came to be great rivals?  Here are 10 things to know about the history of Notre Dame and USC:

Notre Dame Legend, Unexpected Heisman Winner Turns 76 Today

Things didn’t go that way for the Irish though, losing 20-17 to close the year at the Coliseum.  What did happen though was John Huarte, pretty much a complete unknown to the nation just months before, walked away with Notre Dame’s sixth Heisman Trophy in program history.

Before there was Joe Burrow or Cam Newton coming out of absolutely nowhere to win the Heisman Trophy, there was a young man by the name of John Huarte.

Huarte split time at quarterback with Frank Budka in 1963 as Notre Dame went just 2-7 in what was a truly awful year.  One fall later though, the Fighting Irish had hired Ara Parseghian and began one of the all-time turnarounds in college football history.

Week One of the 1964 campaign saw Notre Dame win big at Wisconsin, 31-7 behind touchdown passes of 61 and 42 yards from Huarte to Jack Snow.  Snow would finish the season with 1114 receiving yards and nine touchdowns in what was an all-time turnaround.

What was the 2-7 Irish a year before soared from un-ranked to number one after wins over Purdue, Air Force, UCLA, Stanford and Navy to start the season. Once top-ranked they’d then beat Pitt, Michigan State and Iowa in succession to move to 9-0 and a win over USC away from one of the most unlikely national championships in college football history.

Things didn’t go that way for the Irish though, losing 20-17 to close the year at the Coliseum.  What did happen though was John Huarte, pretty much a complete unknown to the nation just months before, walked away with Notre Dame’s sixth Heisman Trophy in program history.

Huarte won the Heisman after setting a dozen Notre Dame passing records in 1964 while also setting a pair of NCAA passing records.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5t2_D3rI7g&w=560&h=315]

Huarte would go on to play professionally from 1965-75 before calling it a football career. He’d go on to found Arizona Tile a couple years later and turned a small business into a chain of more than 25 stores out west.  Just a couple years ago Huarte repaid his alma-mater with a one-million dollar donation.

Happy 75th to an all-time Notre Dame legend!