Notre Dame Football: Jersey Number Countdown - 4

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 countdown to the first game. Today we are officially 4(!!!) days away from kickoff between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Temple Owls, so here are your 4s.

Kory Minor - LB - 1995-98

Minor was a highly rated talent coming out of high school in Inglewood, CA. As a senior he registered 20.5 sacks and earned consensus All-American status and USA Today’s National Defensive Player of the Year. While he ended up being a solid player at Notre Dame, he never ended up being the stud everyone thought he’d be. He totaled 245 tackles for his career, to go along with 43.5 tackles for loss and five interceptions. Before Justin Tuck came along, Minor was the all-time leader for career sacks with 22.5. He now sits second on the list.

After Notre Dame he was drafted in the seventh round of the 1999 NFL Draft by the Carolina Panthers. He played four seasons with the Panthers before calling it quits. Minor now runs his own organization Kory Minor Industries, which helps motivate people get out into the workforce.

Ryan Grant - RB - 2001-04

After only playing in five games as a freshman, no one really knew what kind of Ryan Grant was. We’d all quickly found out when Julius Jones was ruled ineligible for the 2002 season. Grant stepped in became the Irish’s leading rushing, going for 1,085 yards. His best game during that 2002 season was a top 25 showdown with Air Force. Grant toted the ball for 190 yards in a 21-14 Notre Dame victory.

Despite his strong showing during his sophomore year, Grant took a backseat to two other backs 2003 and 2004. In ‘03 Jones returned to the team and rushed for over 1,200 yards. The in ‘04 freshman Darius Walker rushed for 786 yards, which was the freshman record before Josh Adams broke it in 2015.

Grant went undrafted in the 2005 draft and spent the 2005 season on the New York Giants practice squad. He missed the 2006 season due to a life threatening injury he sustained at a night club.

The Giants then traded him to the Green Bay Packers where his career really took off. Grant was a Pro-Bowler in 2009. Despite being injured for most of the year, Grant won a Super Bowl with Green Bay the following year. The injury he sustained in 2010 basically ended Grant’s career. He to played three more seasons, but wasn’t the same player. He retired after the 2012 season.

Grant rushed for over a thousand yards twice and holds multiple Packers’ records, including most rushing TDs and rushing yards in a playoff game.

Lee Becton - RB - 1991-94

In an era where Notre Dame produced so many great running backs, Becton kind of flies under the radar. Becton rushed for 1,044 yards in 1993, which led the team. He had some huge performances that season as well, going for 177 yards against USC, 122 against Florida State and 138 against Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl.

Known as “the artful dodger”, Becton had a knack for avoiding would-be tacklers. He concluded his Notre Dame career with 2,029 yards, just one of 16 players in program history to eclipse the 2,000 mark.

Becton went undrafted after his senior season and a wrist injury hindered his chances of latching on somewhere. Becton currently works with former Notre Dame assistant coach Bob Chimel in a high school recruiting service, called Dark Horse Recruiting.