Tag: Paul Hornung

Notre Dame players named to preseason award watch lists

Will anyone win this year?

It’s the time of year when we start seeing award watch lists come out in anticipation of the college football season. With Notre Dame expected to be highly ranked once again, there are plenty of players who are ripe for watching. Whether or not any of them actually take home any of this hardware is anyone’s guess right now, but they’re at least on the radar of those who know college football best.

In some cases, more than one Notre Dame player is on the watch list for the same award. Also, as different award watch lists come on different days, it can be difficult to keep track of them all. Rest assured, we will be doing just that as these lists continue to come out.

At season’s end, we’ll find out if any of them or maybe somebody different becomes the first national award winner for the Irish since [autotag]Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah[/autotag] won the Butkus Award in 2020:

ChatGPT ranks top 10 quarterbacks in Notre Dame history

Do you agree with these rankings?

No position in sports is more important than the quarterback. Notre Dame is lucky that it will have a good one this season in [autotag]Sam Hartman[/autotag]. Though his services only will be for one year, the potential for him to have a history-making season is high. With that will come high expectations.

But how will Hartman measure up to the great Notre Dame quarterbacks of the past? For that, let’s turn to AI writing tool ChatGPT and see what it believes is a fair list for the top 10 men under center to play for the Irish.

Keep in mind that ChatGPT has this disclaimer:

“Ranking the top 10 quarterbacks in Notre Dame history is subjective and open to interpretation, as different eras and playing styles contribute to individual greatness. However, based on their impact on the program, statistical achievements, and team success, the following list represents 10 notable quarterbacks in Notre Dame’s storied history.”

And this one:

“Please note that this list is not exhaustive, and there are many other talented quarterbacks who have contributed to the Notre Dame football legacy. The rankings can vary depending on personal opinions and criteria used to evaluate their performances.”

On that, here is the list with some entries edited for clarity and accuracy:

Notre Dame quarterbacks through the years

Not the best but who is your favorite ND quarterback of all-time?

In the long history of Notre Dame football its difficult to come up with a favorite all-time quarterback.  Sure, the likes of [autotag]Paul Hornung[/autotag], [autotag]Joe Montana[/autotag], [autotag]Joe Theismann[/autotag], and [autotag]Brady Quinn[/autotag] all achieved great things in blue and gold but so many others reached great heights as well.

Then there were others that didn’t go on to get drafted into the NFL but led successful Notre Dame squads in their own right like [autotag]Kevin McDougal[/autotag], [autotag]Tony Rice[/autotag], and [autotag]Everett Golson[/autotag].

Who is your favorite quarterback in the history of Notre Dame football?

Who do you think was the best?

And who is your favorite one-hit-wonder?

A day after [autotag]Tyler Buchner[/autotag] announced he was entering the transfer portal, here is a look back at photos of several Notre Dame quarterbacks over the years.

Upcoming ‘The Perfect 10’ documentary features 3 Raiders greats to go from Heisman to Hall

Only 10 people have ever won a Heisman and gone onto the Hall of Fame. And 3 of them are Raiders greats. Set your DVRs Raider Nation.

“This is an amazing feat, man. Only ten guys have been able to accomplish this. More men have walked the moon than to have been able to accomplish what we’ve accomplished,” said Tim Brown in front of six other NFL legends to open the upcoming FOX documentary ‘The Perfect 10’.

Those seven legends all have something special in common. They’re being called ‘The Perfect 10’ because they make up the ten men in the world have hoisted both the Heisman Trophy and have a bust in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

‘The Perfect 10’ will premiere on FOX this Saturday, February 11 at 5 pm Pacific (8pm ET). And if you’re a Raiders fan, you will want to set your DVR.

No team is more well represented in this exclusive club than the Raiders.

Of the seven NFL legends in that room, three are Raiders greats.

The first to join the club was Marcus Allen. Then it was Tim Brown in 2015. And Charles Woodson completed the ten in 2021.

“To have this individual type of accomplishment and to have it be so few who have done it is really mind boggling, you know,” Woodson told Raiders Wire. “I was thinking earlier about the amount of kids who played little league football, high school football, college football, the few that make it to the NFL, and then to just carve that down to just ten guys that have done something like that with the history of the game, that is really quite amazing and hard to put it into words.”

Woodson said as a kid he had imagined himself winning the Heisman Trophy and winning championships (something he also did) but the Hall of Fame was not something he grew up imagining. And even the Heisman seemed out of reach once he switched to defense at Michigan.

“When I got to college and chose to play defense, that dream was pretty much…that was a wrap. Because defensive players don’t win that award,” Woodson said of his Heisman hopes. “So, for me to get to my junior year and to have the success we had as a team, to make the plays at the right time that I made as an individual player, when those things start to happen, that’s when it’s like ‘oh man’ and that dream that was kind of a fleeting thought in my mind was back. . . Then to be invited to the ceremony and ultimately have my name called, holy cow, that was an incredible moment.”

The four other NFL legends on hand for ‘The Perfect 10’ include Earl Campbell, Tony Dorsett, Barry Sanders, and Roger Staubach. The three not present are OJ Simpson, and Doak Walker (deceased), and Paul Hornung (deceased).

Three more Notre Dame players make award watch lists

Hopefully, one of these players wins.

College football continues to creep closer, and preseason award watch lists to continue to come out. On Thursday alone, three more Notre Dame players were named to them. Actually, it was two new players and one player making a second list. When it rains, it pours.

Look, we have no delusions that the Irish are going to sweep every award with one of their players on one of these lists. Not only is that a virtual impossibility, but outsiders would become extremely suspicious that the whole system is rigged for one school. Heck, the College Football Playoff is rigged for only two or three conferences, so it’s not like there should be another reason to get on fans’ bad side.

Still, it’s nice to see which players there are to watch for the Irish this season. They may not all pan out, but the expectations will be there.

Anyway, here are the latest Irish players on watch lists:

A look back at Notre Dame’s Paul Hornung winning Heisman Trophy over Johnny Majors

A look back at Notre Dame’s Paul Hornung winning the Heisman Trophy over Tennessee’s Johnny Majors.

The 1956 Heisman Memorial Trophy was awarded to Notre Dame’s Paul Hornung.

Notre Dame finished 2-8 during the 1956 season.

Hornung played quarterback, halfback and placekicker for the Fighting Irish.

During the 1956 campaign, Hornung led Notre Dame in punt returns, kickoff returns, scoring, passing and rushing. He was a two-time All-America performer.

The Heisman Memorial Trophy runner-up in 1956 was Tennessee’s Johnny Majors.

Majors was a triple-threat tailback in head coach Bowden Wyatt’s offense. He was also a punter and return specialist for the Vols.

Majors, a two-time All-American, was the Southeastern Conference Player of the Year in 1956. He rushed for 549 yards and seven touchdowns, while recording a career-high 552 passing yards. Majors recorded a 43-yard punting average.

In this Dec. 12, 1956 photo, Notre Dame quarterback Paul Hornung imitates the posture of the Heisman Trophy that he received at the Downtown Athletic Club in New York. The Notre Dame hype machine has produced a few unworthy Heisman winners but none more so than Hornung. He was a great player, but the Fighting Irish went 2-8. Any of the next four players in the voting – Johnny Majors from Tennessee, Tom McDonald and Jerry Tubbs from Oklahoma or Syracuse’s Jim Brown, who finished fifth would have been more deserving. (AP Photo/File)

Majors led Tennessee to a 10-1 (6-0 SEC) record, yet finished second to Hornung, who is the only Heisman Memorial Trophy winner to play for a team with a losing record.

Hornung received 1,066 votes to Majors’ 994 in the Heisman Memorial Trophy voting.

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Notre Dame head coaches who also played college football

What Notre Dame coaches have played at the collegiate level?

It’s amazing to think that for all of its rich history, Notre Dame has had only six former college football players as head coach. To make it even more amazing, you have to go all the way back to the beginning of the program’s history of coaches to find half of them. What’s more, it has been 36 years since the Irish had a former college player in their head coaching role. With Brian Kelly only four wins away from passing Knute Rockne on the program’s all-time list, it doesn’t appear the Irish will be adding to this short list anytime soon.

Whichever former college football player eventually ends up as Notre Dame head coach will be joining some rare company. We’re talking three apiece in the 19th and 20th centuries with none coming in the 21st yet. Until then, Irish fans will have to settle for these men holding what is a rare distinction in South Bend:

Heisman winner and Green Bay Packer legend Paul Hornung dies at 84

Pro Football Hall of Famer and Heisman winner Paul Hornung has died at the age of 84.

The year 2020 continues to bring sadness and misery. On Friday, it was announced Pro Football Hall of Famer Paul Hornung, the original “Golden Boy,” has died.

He died in his hometown of Louisville, K, at 84 after a battle with dementia. He becomes the fourth starter from Super Bowls I and II to pass away this year and the eighth in the last 24 months.

Hornung won the Heisman Trophy for Notre Dame in 1956 despite the Fighting Irish finishing 2-8. He went on to star for the Vince Lombardi-era Green Bay Packers in a backfield with Bart Starr and running mate Jim Taylor.

Hornung, born Dec. 23, 1935, in Louisville, Kentucky, was one of seven players to win the Heisman Trophy and be named NFL MVP by The Associated Press. The others were Lamar Jackson, Cam Newton, Barry Sanders, Marcus Allen, Earl Campbell and O.J. Simpson.

Per NFL.com:

Hornung was an athlete, a serviceman, a champion, a ladies’ man, a gambler, a broadcaster, a philanthropist — a diverse range of pursuits, to be sure — but will be most remembered for his versatility within the sport.

Hornung excelled no matter the role and brought a knack for playing winning football. Per a Notre Dame archival account of a 17-14 win over Iowa in 1955, Hornung was carried off the field by Fighting Irish fans after he had thrown a fourth-quarter touchdown pass, then contributed to a stop on defense, and finally kicked a game-winning field goal.

He earned a business degree from Notre Dame and was selected No. 1 overall in the 1957 NFL Draft by the Green Bay Packers. The draft was held Nov. 27, 1956, four days before Hornung finished his college career with a road loss to USC.

“In the middle of the field he may be only slightly better than an average ballplayer, but inside the 20-yard line he is one of the greatest I have ever seen. He smells that goal line,” Lombardi wrote in his book “Run to Daylight.”

His peak years of effectiveness were from 1959-’61, a stretch he led the NFL in scoring three times, was twice named All-Pro, went to two Pro Bowls and won an NFL MVP. His 176 points in 1960 broke an NFL record, a mark that stood for 46 years until LaDainian Tomlinson scored 186 for the San Diego Chargers in 2006. The NFL season was 12 games long in Hornung’s day; Tomlinson played in the 16-game era and broke the mark in San Diego’s 14th game.

In ’61, Hornung juggled an MVP season with active military duty in the U.S. Army, and over the last half of the season, played for the Packers on weekend passes. When Lombardi learned that the Berlin Wall Crisis would keep Hornung on duty in Fort Riley, Kansas, for the NFL Championship Game, he called on President John F. Kennedy, who arranged a leave for Hornung to play in the game. In a 37-0 win over the Giants, Hornung scored a touchdown and kicked three field goals as the game’s MVP.

“Paul Hornung isn’t going to win the war on Sunday,” Kennedy reportedly said, “but the football fans of this country deserve the two best teams on the field that day.'”

Hornung was suspended for the 1963 season by NFL Commissioner Pete Rozzelle for gambling on NFL games, which Hornung admitted to and for which he was deeply apologetic.

In Hornung’s final NFL season in 1966, a pinched nerve hampered him for much of the season, and when the Packers earned a berth in Super Bowl I, he was rostered but could not play. Lombardi exposed Hornung to an expansion draft after the season, and he was selected by the New Orleans Saints but never played an NFL down outside of Green Bay.

After wrapping up a career in which he became the only player in NFL history to score 50 touchdowns and kick 50 field goals and earned inductions into both the Pro and College Football Halls of Fame, he was a frequent face on TV football broadcasts, working for CBS alongside such legends as Lindsey Nelson and Vin Scully.

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Notre Dame, Green Bay Packers ‘Golden Boy’ Paul Hornung has died at 84

Sad news today Notre Dame and Green Bay Packers legend Paul Hornung has died at the age of 84.

The only man to ever win Heisman Trophy on a team with a losing record has died as Paul Hornung, a football legend at both Notre Dame and with the Green Bay Packers passed away Friday at the age of 84.

Hornung starred as a three-sport athlete at Flaget High School in Louisville before attending Notre Dame on a football scholarship.

“The Golden Boy” as he was known during his playing days, threw for 12 touchdowns and 1696 yards during his time at Notre Dame.  In 1956 his efforts not only at quarterback but on defense and special teams helped him win the Heisman Trophy despite the Irish going just 2-8 on the year.  To this day Hornung is the only player to win the award while playing on a losing team.

Hornung would go on to be selected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1985 and since 2010 The Paul Hornung Award has been given out to “The most versatile player in college football” each season.

Hornung graduated from Notre Dame in 1957 with a degree in business and became the first overall pick in the ’57 NFL Draft as the Green Bay Packers selected him.  Along with Vince Lombardi and the Packers dynasty of the sixties, Hornung would win four NFL Championships and twice be selected as a first-team All-Pro in what would end up a Hall of Fame career as he was enshrined in Canton in the 1986 class.

Hornung was a superstar in the sport but also found his way into various different controversies over the years.  He was involved in a betting ring alongside former Detroit Lions star Alex Karras that left the two suspended for the 1963 season.

In a 2004 radio interview Hornung also declared that Notre Dame  “can’t stay as strict as we are as far as the academic structure is concerned because we’ve got to get the black athletes. We must get the black athletes if we’re going to compete.”

Those comments understandably drew harsh criticism nationwide.

Hornung is survived by his wife of 41 years, Angela.

We’ll have more on this story as it develops but our thoughts are with all of those effected by the loss of a football legend.

Packers legend Paul Hornung passes away at age 84

Hornung, one of the greatest football players of his era, passed away on Friday.

One of the greatest football players of all-time passed away on Friday.

The Louisville Sports Commission confirmed that Green Bay Packers legend Paul Hornung died after a battle with dementia at age 84, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.

Hornung, the first overall pick in the 1957 draft, played nine seasons with the Packers (1957-66). He was a four-time NFL champion, the NFL’s MVP in 1961 and a three-time All-Pro.

Hornung is a Pro Football Hall of Famer, a College Football Hall of Famer and a member of the NFL’s 1960s All-Decade team. At Notre Dame, he was a two-time All-American and the winner of the Heisman Trophy in 1956.

According to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Hornung scored 760 points on 62 touchdowns, 66 field goals and 190 point after attempts.

The Packers inducted Hornung into the team’s Hall of Fame. Legendary coach Vince Lombardi once called Hornung the “greatest player he ever coached.”

More on Hornung’s legendary career can be found at the team’s website.