In reply to: Random question posted by alleghenyirish
to be drafted in the first or second round.
Meadowlands. Great beginning of a really memorable season for him...
Amazing thing about him is he was a soccer recruit and was All Big East as a freshman (or maybe All freshman team for Big East). Then he walked on to the football team and his soccer career ended.
*edited to link to article from Sept 2002 talking about his move from soccer to football.
Best corner since Shawn Wooden probably
Bobby Taylor played cornerback Notre Dame and was a first-team all-american.
You're probably thinking of Jeff Burris.
Before you jump on here to correct somebody (incorrectly), look it up.
the two best cornerbacks/defensive backs I ever saw play for ND were Luther Bradley and Mike Townsend. Both were selected as consensus All-Americans - Townsend in 1973 and Bradley in 1977.
Bradley, who was on both the 1973 and 1977 national championship teams, is ND's all-time leader in career interceptions with 17. Luther delivered the memorable ("Welcome to ND Stadium") hit on Lynn Swann on the first defensive play of the 1973 USC game. Mike Townsend set the single season interceptions record - 10 in 1972. He was one of the captains of the national championship team in 1973. Alums who were at ND in 1972 and 1973 will remember that both Mike Townsend and his older brother Willie, a wide receiver on the football team, were recruited as walk-ons by Digger to play basketball in Digger's first two seasons at ND (1971-72 and 1972-73). If the Townsend brothers weren't suited up for the Irish in football or basketball, you could usually find them in a pick-up basketball game at the Rock.
I think though from a historical perspective, Luther Bradley is the consensus “best corner in ND history”. I’m not sure many would argue that.
I watched Bradley pick off six passes in one game while playing for the Chicago Blitz.
Great notes on Townsend. Thanks for that. Winning national championships and collecting all-america honors - that’s a tough combo to beat - for both Bradley and Townsend.
Sorry, i have 3 kids under 4 years old and i don't sleep much.
Apparently my memory is fading as well.
I remember Burris and ? Was it Greg Lane who was a corner on that team? Was thinking Taylor was the Safety.
Apologies.
Greg Lane and Tom Carter formed a significant duo in the early 90’s.
A lot of guys overlapped given their eligibility but notable duos off the top of my head from that era:
Lyght/Smagala
Carter/Lane
Taylor/Wooden
Walton/Duff
Guys like John Covington and Willie Clark were mixed into the Holtz era at CB as well. I’m probably forgetting a couple guys.
Ivory played exclusively corner and i believe will always be remembered as the tiny corner who stuffed army's tight end at the goal line to avoid a potentially embarrassing loss