Greatest Week Ever: Football Players

Since this is the week leading up to the Super Bowl, National Signing Day is the same weekend, and college basketball is starting to heat up, it's time for the Greatest Week Ever: Irish-style. For Notre Dame, recruiting is basically over besides some recruits that will get late offers, but I can't get into it. The suspense isn't there. The Patriots are in the Super Bowl, which is reason for me NOT to watch ESPN. The NBA and NHL are in their midseason, so the excitement of the 100 game series of the playoffs are almost here. While the snoozefests are going on, I will do a 7 part series of the greatest teams, players, coaches, and more of Notre Dame athletics. This should invoke good arguments. Now, I'm starting off with the hardest topic of them all: The Top 10 Notre Dame football players. Notre Dame has a long history of football greatness. They have had 7 Heisman winners and multiple great linemen who never had a chance at the Heisman. Oh yeah, the Gipper, Joe Montana, Jerome Bettis, Raghib Ismail, Joe Theisman, Brady Quinn, and Tony Rice are some players that don't fill those categories. Yeah, they've had some good players.

10. Tony Rice/QB/1987-89: Rice was the leader of three Notre Dame football teams with one being the 1988 national championship team. He was the greatest running quarterback in Notre Dame history, and he finished his career with the Johnny Unitas award in 1989 for the best passer of said year. What makes Rice's accomplishments even more amazing is that he had no freshman year. Because he did not pass the Prop 48 requirements, he didn't get to play or even practice with Notre Dame in 1986. He was essentially a first year player in 1987, where he led the Irish to a Cotton Bowl win. Rice was also the only starter on the Notre Dame 1988 team, both offense and defense, not to play in the NFL. He is one of the best option quarterbacks in the history of college football. Every player who runs a form of the option should watch tape of Tony Rice. He was the epitome of elusiveness and speed from under the center.

9. Tim Brown/WR/1984-87: Tim Brown may be more well known for his Hall of Fame career at wide receiver for the Raiders, but Brown was one of the top returners in college football before he became the All-Pro receiver in Los Angeles and Oakland. He had 1927 all-purpose yards in 1986, and he won the Heisman the following year. He ended his career with 5024 all-purpose yards and 107 receptions. His breakout game was against USC in 1986 where he returned a kickoff for a touchdown, had a touchdown reception, and returned a punt 56 yards to set up the game-winning field goal. Brown was the first true Notre Dame wide receiver to win the Heisman.

8. Joe Montana/QB/1974-78: Joe Montana may have only started for two years, but he made the most of his time under center. When Rusty Lisch went down against Purdue, Joe Montana got his chance. Montana came into the game with 11 minutes left in the game and the Irish down by 10 points. Montana threw for 154 yards and led Notre Dame to the win. He never looked back. Joe Montana led the Irish to 10 straight wins, including a win over Southern California in South Bend donning the green jerseys and a 38-10 win over Texas in the Cotton Bowl, which secured the national championship for the Irish.

The next year, Notre Dame made it to the Cotton Bowl once again, and Joe Montana gave us the most famous performance in Notre Dame sports history. In the Cotton Bowl, Notre Dame was down 20-12 at halftime, but the score was not the story. Joe Montana had hypothermia with his body temperature at 96. To recover, Joe Montana had multiple bowls of chicken soup and stayed under warm blankets. With just under 8 minutes left in the game, Notre Dame was trailing by 22. Joe Montana led the comeback, capped with a touchdown pass to Kris Haines with no time on the clock. Notre Dame won the game 35-34, and Joe Montana was immortalized. After his Hall of Fame career in the NFL where he won 4 Super Bowls, Joe Montana became the face of winning quarterbacks. If one thing is for sure about Joe Montana's career: If he played today, he would have a Campbell's endorsement.

7. George Connor/OT/1946-47: Like Montana, George Connor played only 2 years for the Irish, but he made the most of it. After World War II, Connor transferred from Holy Cross to Notre Dame, and he made an immediate impact. He was the anchor of the Notre Dame line that went undefeated in 1946 and 1947. He won the first Outland Trophy, and he went on to be an all-time great linebacker for the Chicago Bears. Connor was the first post-war dominant tackle. He was the main reason Notre Dame became a 1940s dynasty.

6. Johnny Lujack/QB & DB/1943-44, 46-47: Even after 60 years, Johnny Lujack is the only quarterback who had led his team to 3 national championships. Johnny Lujack may have been a Heisman-winning quarterback (1947), but he is probably most well-known for his game-saving tackle against Army in 1946, which locked up a national championship.

5. Paul Hornung/QB, RB, DB, & K/1954-56: Paul Hornung was actually on a winning team (9-1) as a sophomore in 1954, but his team's worst season was definitely his best. In 1956, Notre Dame went 2-8, but he finished second in the nation in offense and had 55 tackles. The controversial win over Jim Brown still had social impact. No matter how I feel about it (Paul Hornung was the best player in the nation and Brown was only considered years later when he became the greatest NFL player in history), this win started controversy that seemed to follow Hornung around wherever he went. He was banned for a year by the NFL for gambling, and he made insensitive comments about blacks a few years back. However, that won't take away his Heisman or keep him off this list.

4. Leon Hart/E/1946-49: Leon Hart was the last lineman to win the Heisman Trophy. However, the line was a bit different under Frank Leahy than it was today. Hart played end, which would be considered wide receiver or tight end. Nevertheless, he was phenominal. He never lost one game in his college career, and he had 13 touchdowns on 49 receptions. He was a force on defense, and he was also a great blocker for the T-formation runners that played for Leahy. He did it all over his career.

3. Ross Browner/DE/1973, 75-77: Browner is the greatest defensive player not named Hugh in college football history. He had 77 tackles for losses and 340 total tackles. Remember, sacks were not stats when Browner played, so we don't know for sure how many sacks he did have out of the 77. All we know is, he was the overall greatest defensive player in NFL history. He could stop the run and get to the quarterback. To top it off, he had 2 national championships.

2. Raghib Ismail/WR & RS/1988-90: Raghib Ismail was the most explosive player in football history. He could change the game on one play. Imagine Devin Hester times ten plus the fact that he could also catch the ball. He had over 1000 career yards in rushing, receiving, and kickoff returns. He is very underrated over all-time because he did not win a Heisman due to the fact that pass-happy offenses were still respected at the time and he did not start his pro career in the NFL. He played in the CFL for the most expensive contract in football history. Even though he started his career in the CFL, he ended his NFL career with 5295 yards receiving in nine years-an amazing stat when analyzed deeper. He was what Ted Ginn Jr. would be considered today. He was an all-time great and my favorite player.

1. George Gipp/RB, DB, & K/1917-20: This one is obvious. A pass thrown to the receiver he was covering was never completed. He averaged 7.5 yards per carry and he had 6 interceptions. He averaged 40 yards per punt and had 20 PATs. He died prematurely, but that may be what he is most known for. He gave his "Win One for the Gipper" speech to Coach Rockne on his deathbed, which ended up being immortalized in the movie Knute Rockne: All-American. Gipp is as famous as a running back can get. He was the first great running back in the history of American football. His impact cannot be overlooked.