8 Best Notre Dame Fighting Irish Football Players

College football is better when Notre Dame plays well, and in 2023, we saw some solid play out of the program. Still, it’s nothing like the Notre Dame squads of yesteryear, and just imagine if college football live betting had been around during Joe Montana’s final season at the school when they came back to beat Houston in the Cotton Bowl. 

Again, Notre Dame hasn’t been at the top for a while, but this program has well over 100 years of history.

Below, I’ve constructed a list of the top eight players in program history. My goal was to honour legends while also crediting more recent players.

Check it out. 

8 Best Notre Dame Fighting Irish Football Players

1. George Gipp

Kicking off my list, I’m turning the clock back more than 100 years to honour Gipp. Stats are hard to come by during this era, but it’s said that Gipp rushed for 2,341 yards and threw for 1,789 more. His rushing total was a record for 50 years. 

At Notre Dame, he scored 21 touchdowns, averaged 38 yards per punt, intercepted five passes, and averaged 14 yards per punt return and 22 yards per kick return. 

Sadly, Gipp died of strep throat and pneumonia in a time before there were antibiotics, and he died on December 14, 1920, at just 25 years old. 

A fun fact: Former United States president Ronald Reagan played Gipp in a movie in 1940. 

He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame 31 years after his death.

2. Johnny Lujack

There may not be a more decorated Notre Dame player than Lujack. 

While at Notre Dame, he won three national championships, the Heisman Trophy, was the AP Athlete of the Year, SN Player of the Year, and was a two-time unanimous All-American. . 

The Fighting Irish had 11 national championship wins, and during the mid-1940s, Lujack was responsible for three of them. 

In 1947, he completed 61 passes for 777 yards and rushed for 129 yards.

Better yet, he played at the school in 1943, won a national championship, went off to World War II, came back and won two more national titles. 

He passed away in July 2023 at 98 years old. 

What a life. What a legend. 

3. Joe Montana

We all know Joe Montana as one of the greatest players in NFL history, but before that, he was an accomplished quarterback at Notre Dame. 

While there, he won a national championship in 1977. The year before that, he was a medical redshirt due to a separated shoulder. 

In 1978, Notre Dame almost beat their rival USC. They were trailing 24-6 at half, got a 25-24 lead with less than a minute to go, but USC kicked a field goal to win.

He went on to win the Cotton Bowl against Houston 35-34 despite his body temperature dropping to 96 degrees. 

While at Notre Dame, he played in 27 games and threw for 4,123 yards, 25 touchdowns, and rushed for 14 more. 

Since his 1977 national championship, Notre Dame has won just one title. 

4. Tim Brown

Brown was the most recent Notre Dame player to win the Heisman Trophy, the first wide receiver to earn the honour in 1987. 

Today, he ranks sixth in Notre Dame history in receiving yards (2,493). He also won the Walter Camp Award, was a unanimous All-American first-team All-American, was the SN Player of the Year and UPI Player of the Year. All of his awards, except for his first-team All-American nod, came in 1987, where he caught 39 passes for 846 yards, three touchdowns, and rushed 98 times for 442 yards and four touchdowns.

As a kick returner, Brown had six total touchdowns and over 2,000 combined punt and kick return yards on 105 tries. 

Brown is in the College and Pro Football Hall of Fame. 

5. Paul Hornung

Whenever you get the nickname “The Golden Boy,” you know you left behind quite a mark, and that’s the case for Hornung. 

This guy played all over the field at Notre Dame, including quarterback, halfback, safety, and even a backup fullback. 

During his time at Notre Dame, he passed for 1,696 yards and 12 touchdowns and rushed 209 times for 1,051 yards and six touchdowns. 

He won the Heisman Trophy in 1956, was a consensus All-American, and first-team All-American.

He’s a member of the College Football and Pro Football Hall of Fame. 

6. Raghib Ismail

A unanimous All-American, first-team All-American, the Sporting News Player of the Year in 1990, and the winner of the Walter Camp Award in 1990, Raghib “Rocket” Ismail is regarded as one of the best players to ever play for the Fighting Irish. 

He played both wide receiver and running back. During his time with the program, he caught 71 passes for 1,565 yards and four touchdowns, and rushed 131 times for 1,015 yards and five scores. 

As a kick/punt returner, he totalled over 1,500 yards and six touchdowns on more than 70 tries. 

7. Manti Te’o

Te’o may also be remembered for the catfishing fiasco, but he’s arguably the best defensive player to ever play at Notre Dame. 

With everything going on, he had a sensational 2012 campaign, where he won the Maxwell Award, Walter Camp Award, Lott Trophy, Chuck Bednarik Award, Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Butkus Award, and Lombardi Trophy, and was a unanimous All-American. On top of that, he was a Heisman finalist, finishing second to Johnny Manziel. 

In his 2012 season, he had 113 total tackles and seven interceptions. He ranks third all- time in Notre Dame history in tackles (437), sixth in single-game tackles (21 in 2010 against Stanford), and tied for fourth in single-season interceptions with seven in 2012. 

8. Michael Floyd

To round out my list, I wanted to give some credit to Floyd here. Sure, there are plenty of legendary Notre Dame players I could’ve put here, like Ross Browner, Tony Rice, Alan Page, and even Brady Quinn, but Floyd was a sensational receiver at Notre Dame. 

Today, he holds records in receptions (271), receiving yards (3,686), and receiving touchdowns (37). To put that in perspective, the next closest player in each category is trailing by nearly 100 catches, nearly 1,000 yards, and seven touchdowns.