Bagpipe Monday: The appreciation post for Notre Dame’s Shaun Crawford

Welcome to another Bagpipe Monday on One Foot Down. Friends, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish are 3-1 and ranked #9 in the nation after a 35-20 win over the Virginia Cavaliers. Notre Dame continues to have a shot at another college football playoff appearance, and this week should be a third string win with the Bowling Green Falcons coming to town.

@phillykelly

I just want to take a quick moment to show our appreciation for 5th year senior cornerback Shaun Crawford. Against the Hoos, Crawford suffered a horrific looking arm injury early in the 3rd quarter.

When it first happened, I think most fans had the same feeling as I did: OH NO... not again — not Shaun. After everything Crawford has been through since his arrival at Notre Dame, another massive blow felt like it was ready to break every heart in the Notre Dame universe.

As we all know now, Crawford has a dislocated elbow and will be out for 3-4 weeks. While that is really great news that he won’t miss the entire season, it still means that he will miss the rivalry clash against the USC Trojans, and likely the normal game against the Michigan Wolverines as well — and that’s terrible enough.

Crawford, a one time commit to Michigan, showed up in South Bend as a freshman in 2015 and was immediately the best nickel on the team. He won a starting job in fall camp, but also got his first season-ending ACL tear before the year began. After a couple of games in 2016, Shaun tore his achilles for another season-ending injury. He was able to come back strong in 2017 and was Notre Dame’s most dynamic playmaker on defense for the first six games, but his body wore down quite a bit as the season wore on (he did play the entire year). 2018 was another lost year for Crawford as he tore the other ACL... he’s been through a lot.

Photo by Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Shaun Crawford is a warrior. He has more battle scars that any player that I can remember, and he still gives 100% of everything he has to fight back and play for his brothers, the University, and for all of you. If there is one thing that Notre Dame fans can absolutely come together and agree on, it’s the fact that Shaun Crawford is a hero that continually puts his body on the line with the most positive attitude possible.

Thankfully, we haven’t seen the last of Shaun in a Notre Dame uniform, and his return to the lineup in a month warms my heart.

So here’s to you Shaun Crawford — native son of Ohio and a god damn pirate that keeps coming back from the brink. I raise my glass of Trojan Blood in your name, and hit play on the pipes: