Notre Dame Alums in the NFL

There was a great article written the other day about Rema McKnight, the former Notre Dame wide receiver who graduated this year. Though he was disappointed that he did not get drafted by an NFL team, he has been contacted by the New Orleans Saints, who are trying him out for a spot on their roster. The odds are probably not the best, but you can be sure that McKnight’s experience as a Fighting Irish player is helping him to compete against the other young hopefuls in the Saints’ training camp.

McKnight was Brady Quinn’s go-to guy while on the Irish. He ended his career with a total of 170 receptions, but was passed up during the draft probably because of his size. Though you can no longer get Notre Dame Fighting Irish tickets to see Rema McKnight, you might soon be able to go to StubHub.com to see him play for and NFL team.

Permalink - Posted in General on June 6, 2007 - Post a comment

Wrong Move, Weis

The big news coming out of the University of Notre Dame as far as football goes is Coach Charlie Weis’ comments the other day which declared that the competition for playing time at the position of quarterback is going to be between three people: Jimmy Clausen, Demetrius Jones and Evan Sharpley. This specifically left out one of the main contenders, Zach Frazer. There are indications that Frazer will look to transfer schools. If he does, and he plays for a Division-1 NCAA school, he will be required to sit out for one year. After that, he will have have four years of eligibility remaining.

But don’t you think that Weis made a pretty bad mistake? You can’t just tell a guy he’s not good enough and then send him packing to another school with a chip on his shoulder and a score to settle. This is just setting up a Rose Bowl between Notre Dame’s Weis and USC’s Frazer, where the scorned QB will get a shot at redemption.

To see this inevitable future battle, you’ll have to get Notre Dame Fighting Irish tickets at StubHub.com for the 2011 Rose Bowl.

Permalink - Posted in General on June 5, 2007 - Post a comment

Frazer to Transfer from Notre Dame

After Coach Charlie Weis’ announcement that the Notre Dame starting QB position is going to be decided upon by a three person competition between Jimmy Clausen, Evan Sharpley and Demetrius Jones, the one potential QB who was snubbed, Zach Frazer, is apparently considering transferring to another school in order to get an opportunity to play. Frazer himself did not have anything to say about the potential switch, but his father made Zach’s feelings clear.

Said David Frazer, “If the opportunity is out there and they (other schools) come calling, he wants to play. He’s a kid that wants to play. He’s not going to run the scout team or do mop-up duty, he wants to play.

Last week the four young quarterbacks lined up in formal wear for the first elimination ceremony. Weis had only three roses, which he offered to Jimmy, Evan and Demetrius. After the final rose was presented, the camera zoomed in on Zach’s face, which showed a mixture of disappointment and masked disappointment. Weis and Zach then embraced in an awkward hug, before Zach walked away from the ceremony alone with a voice over of himself waxing philosophical about the acceptance of failures while striving for goals, a new desire to focus on finding a school that will give him some playing time, and what an amazing experience this all has been.

If you would like to see the winner of Fox’s new reality drama, “The Quarterback,” you should check out StubHub.com for Notre Dame Fighting Irish tickets.

Permalink - Posted in General on June 4, 2007 - Post a comment

QB Pageant Down to Three Contestants

Finally some news from the home front! Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis has announced that the competition for the starting quarterback job has been narrowed down to three possible candidates: Jimmy Clausen, Demitrius Jones, and Evan Sharlpley.

This announcement leaves out the possibility of Zach Frazer, another QB hoping to get into the mix. Said Weis that other day, “Evan ran the operation the best, Jimmy threw the ball the best, and Demetrius made the most plays. For these reasons, they will compete for playing time.” We have a competition between men who represent different kinds of things you would look for in a college QB: accuracy (Clausen), speed (Jones), and decision making (Sharpley). If only we could combine these three to make one super quarterback…

No matter who gets the starting job, the race will surely be interesting, and you’ll want to check out StubHub.com for Notre Dame Fighting Irish tickets to see whoever Weis chooses.

Permalink - Posted in General on June 1, 2007 - Post a comment

Four Horsemen of Notre Dame: II

The Four Horsemen of Notre Dame rode into national prominence after Grantland Rice’s article in the New York Herald Tribune and a staged picture of the quartet which was printed in the Chicago Tribune a few days later. In the picture, the four Notre Dame football players were seated atop four horses on a football field. After the publicity stunts the Notre Dame Fighting Irish went on a winning streak. The Horsemen became the most famous college football players of their day.

In 1924, they completed an undefeated season with a win over Stanford in the Rose Bowl. They were declared National Champions, one of the greatest Notre Dame teams in history. Though by today’s standards the Four Horsemen probably would not have made very good college football players, they ended up playing 30 games together and only lost two.

Impressed by tales of the Irish of yore? Well get Notre Dame Fighting Irish tickets at StubHub.com to see a team that could be legendary years from now.

Permalink - Posted in General on May 31, 2007 - Post a comment

The Four Horsemen of Notre Dame

One of the most famous groups of players in Fighting Irish history, and indeed American sports history, is the legendary “Four Horsemen of Notre Dame.” The Four Horsemen were comprised of the backfield of the 1924 Irish team coached by Knute Rockne. The phrase was coined by a sports writer for the New York Herald Tribune named Grantland Rice, who was famous for his colorful, poetic descriptions. After Notre Dame beat a favored Army team he wrote,

“Outlined against a blue-gray October sky, the Four Horsemen rode again. In dramatic lore they are known as famine, pestilence, destruction and death. These are only aliases. Their real names are: Stuhldreher, Miller, Crowley and Layden. They formed the crest of the South Bend cyclone before which another fighting Army team was swept over the precipice at the Polo Grounds this afternoon as 55,000 spectators peered down upon the bewildering panorama spread out upon the green plain below.”

The Four Horsemen were actually quarterback Harry Stuhldreher, left halfback Jim Crowley, right halfback Don Miller and fullback Elmer Layden. They enjoyed great success over the years. Stay tuned tomorrow for more info on the famous Horsemen. While you’re waiting to learn about the legends of Notre Dame, you can check out StubHub.com for some Notre Dame Fighting Irish tickets for games next season.

Permalink - Posted in General on May 30, 2007 - Post a comment

Another “Cool” Joe Notre Dame QB

Because this is the dead part of the year so far as Notre Dame Football tickets goes, we’re going to take a step back and look at a few of the more famous Notre Dame figures and moments over the years to get everybody good and caught up. Today, we will take a look at Joe Theismann, the former Fighting Irish QB, who had a successful NFL career, and is now a sports commentator.

Joe Theismann was barely 5′7”, 145 when he arrived as a new recruit at Notre Dame in 1968. He sat the bench his freshman year, but then an injury to the starting QB gave Joe a shot at starting his sophomore year. He was an instant success. Theismann went on to set Notre Dame records for most passing yards in a game (526), yards in a season (2,429) and touchdowns in a season (16). Few people probably know that you also could have gotten Notre Dame Fighting Irish tickets (which would have been available at StubHub.com if the internet had been around then) to see Joe Theismann play baseball in college. In fact, he was drafted buy the Cleveland Indians out of college.

Permalink - Posted in General on May 29, 2007 - Post a comment

Former Irish Wideout Now a Pitcher

Last year Jeff Samardzija was the number one wideout for the University f Notre Dame Fighting Irish. He caught 78 passes, racked up over 1,000 yards and scored 12 touchdowns. His stats for the year before that were just slightly better. Samardizija was supposed to be a number one pick- low first rounder or maybe a high second rounder. After being Brady Quinn’s go-to receiver, Samardzija might have even been picked before Brady himself. Instead, he ran a route from the draft… to a minor league baseball team in Florida.

It’s true. Those of you who got Notre Dame Fighting Irish tickets at StubHub.com to see Jeff Samardzija catch might not have known that this multi-sport athlete could also throw. Right now he is guaranteed $16.5 million over the next five years, a pretty sweet deal- almost surely better than he would have gotten in the NFL. He has a loyal Notre Dame fan base wherever he pitches.

I think it might have been nice to see another two sport athlete out there. We haven’t had a good one since Deion Sanders.

Permalink - Posted in General on May 25, 2007 - Post a comment

Joe Montana: Part VII: The Conclusion

In the record books Joe Montana was probably not one of Notre Dame’s most prolific passers, but he sure knew how to win a game in dramatic fashion. After his college career was over with the Fighting Irish, he was taken in the third round of the NFL Draft, number 82 overall. Prior to the draft, Montana was given very little respect. One scout wrote of him, “He can thread the needle, but usually goes with his primary receiver and forces the ball to him even when he’s in a crowd. He’s a gutty, gambling, cocky type. Doesn’t have great tools, but could eventually start.”
After his NFL career was over, many would consider him the best quarterback in football history. Whenever any respectable publication puts out a list of the greatest players and/or greatest quarterbacks, Joe Montana is always in the top five. In 2004 The Sporting News rated him as the #2 QB of all-time.

If StubHub.com had been invented back in the late 1970s, and you had gotten Notre Dame Fighting Irish tickets to a game with Joe Montana playing, you might have thought he was just lucky. However, a few decades later in hindsight we can see that Joe Montana exhibited at Notre Dame all the makings of a football legend.

Permalink - Posted in General on May 24, 2007 - Post a comment

Irish’s Montana Comes Back… Again!

Notre Dame Fighting Irish football ticket buyers had not seen the end of Montana’s comeback potential. It was not until 1979 that the full extent of Joe Montana-at Notre Dame football glory would unfold and blossom into a beautiful, legendary pigskin flower.

Wikipedia described the morning of Notre Dame’s 1979 game against Houston as “freakishly cold.” Joe Montana, forced to leave the game at the end of the third quarter to battle a rapidly deteriorating case of hypothermia (Joe Cool, indeed), could only watch in agony as his team went down by 22 points before the start of the fourth quarter. Prior to the game, Montana had been diagnosed with a bad case of the flu. So the odds were against him coming into the game. He had the flu, a bad case of hypothermia, a three-plus touchdown deficit, and only one quarter with which to mount a comeback.

No hope, no chance, no way? Nope… No problem.

Joe Montana stormed back onto the field after downing a bowl of chicken soup, probably using both hands, bringing the bowl to his mouth and spilling a lot of the broth out along the corners of his mouth… probably. About a half hour later Joe Montana was throwing the winning touchdown pass with no time left on the clock. Notre Dame wins 35-34, and Joe Montana is officially at Legend Status in Notre Dame history. StubHub.com can’t promise to get you tickets to games as exciting as some of Cool Joe’s, but then again, you never know when a legend will be born in South Bend.

Permalink - Posted in General on May 23, 2007 - Post a comment


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