This Guy Plays Notre Dame Football: #20 Shaun Crawford

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish have been, well, poor against the pass the last couple seasons. Breakdowns in the secondary doomed the Irish in their quest for a playoff spot in 2015, while the defense struggled mightily last season with a young secondary core.

Cornerback Shaun Crawford had limited involvement in the team’s defensive struggles, mainly because he was on the trainer’s table. However, he was medically cleared in April and hopes to be starting at cornerback when the Irish take the field against Temple on September 2nd.

3 Things to Know About Shaun Crawford:

1. He has had very little luck of the Irish since his arrival to South Bend. He tore his ACL in August of 2015 and missed his freshman season. He then tore his achilles against Nevada in 2016 and missed the remainder of the season. Ouch.
2. Crawford was a track star at St. Edward High School in Ohio, participating in long jump, 4x100 and 4x400 relays and 60, 100 and 200 meters.
3. Fans thought Crawford tore his achilles while celebrating after breaking up a pass against Nevada last season. Crawford explained that his foot felt “stuck in the mud” and he was trying to free it. Hopefully it is finally free now.

YouTube Hot Fire:

This is a no-brainer. They lost the game and began a season of pain and agony, but we were all going crazy when this happened:

I, RyChi, Dub Thee...

Shaun “Lieutenant Dan” Crawford

With surgically repaired injuries in both legs, Crawford may need to take Forrest Gump’s friend’s approach and use some titanium alloy legs to help him become a new man. Just please don’t be like Derrick Rose. PLEASE.

2017 Forecast

Jokes aside, Irish fans are hoping for the best for Crawford, who was once a promising prospect. The redshirt sophomore has been to hell and back with two long and strenuous rehab stints, and seeing him on the starting defensive unit would be a great story.

Not only would it be a great story, but it is also a realistic one. Crawford has the talent to be on the starting secondary, but it will come down to health. He will likely be competing with sophomores Troy Pride Jr. and Julian Love. With everything this kid has been through in the past two years, it’s hard not to root for him.