If you follow me on Twitter, which a good number of you probably don’t, you know that for the last few weeks I’ve been posting photos of old and current ND players in our countdown to the first game. Today we are officially 18 days away from kickoff between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Temple Owls, so here are your 18s.
John Carney, Joey Getherall, Chinedum Ndukwe and Troy Pride days until kickoff... pic.twitter.com/AlaAQuFx1t
— Bobby Norell (@RENorell_III) August 15, 2017
John Carney - K - 1983-86
Carney is perhaps the best kicker ever to roll through South Bend. He’s among the the leaders in almost every kicking category. He was also clutch. During his time at Notre Dame, Carney is perhaps most known for his game winning kick against USC in 1986.
Of course as most of you know, Carney went on to be one of the best kickers in NFL history. Carney played 24 seasons in the NFL. He’s the fifth all-time leading scorer in league history, just behind Morten Andersen, Gary Anderson, Adam Vinatieri and Jason Hanson.
Joey Getherall - WR - 1997-2000
Getherall was one of my favorite players growing up. Probably was because he was a little guy, and I’m not all that tall either. He also played the hero in one of the first games I went to — Notre Dame vs. Air Force in 2000. Glenn Earl blocked a kick to send it to overtime. Then Getherall scored the game winner in the extra period. He was also electrifying in the return game. I still remember his punt return against Nebraska in 2000.
Getherall didn’t have much of a pro career, but he did go on to become a police officer with the LAPD.
Chinedum Ndukwe - FS - 2003-06
I had to put Ndukwe on here for one reason, and that was the hit he put on future NFL Hall of Famer Calvin Johnson in 2006. It was perhaps the biggest hit in my years as a ND fan.
Ndukwe went on to have a fairly successful NFL career. He played parts of five seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals and Oakland Raiders. Perhaps the most impressive thing about Ndukwe was not his exploits on the field, but the ones off it. He attended the Harvard Business School and then the Wharton School of Business at Penn. He started the Chinedum Ndukwe Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to enriching the lives of today’s youth by offering solutions and creating outlets to help young people overcome everyday pressures.
Troy Pride Jr. - DB - 2016-Present
Pride was one of my favorite players in the 2016 class. He possesses great speed and moves well across the field. Unfortunately, the cornerback position is pretty loaded. He should be a depth piece, a very good depth piece, in 2017.
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I’ve been away from my computer for the past few days, so I wasn’t able to get a post out for 21, 20 and 19, so without further ado here they are.