Notre Dame Players You Would Have DESPISED If They Were On Another Team

We Loved ‘Em, But I’m Sure Not Many Others Did

This idea for Notre Dame Fighting Irish players that you would’ve hated if they were on other teams was spawned from a look back at Golden Tate. And honestly, the video I saw recently was of how much of a clown that Golden Tate was in the NFL, but he was always so good. That was his playing style and personality. The notion of some hate-able players has every now and again gotten thrown around by my group of friends, and I think this can apply to us as Irish fans. There have been players that you have rooted for that donned an ND uniform but if they played somewhere else you would’ve hated them. Let’s take a look at a few.

Golden Tate

I already alluded to him, but Golden Tate is definitely on my list here. He was SO good and so fast as our late 2000s wide receiver on some pretty abysmal teams. He was just a character, and he loved that he was. But, he had the skills to back it up. The thing that definitely solidifies him on this list is the MSU Band incident you see above. Still to this day I find it hilarious he received no penalty of any kind. Just a glorious moment that created the “Air Golden” t-shirts (IYKYK).

Cormac Ryan

Amber Searls-USA TODAY Sports

So this one is interesting because it is incredibly recent and he is actually now on another team, so art imitates life. Cormac Ryan came in as a transfer, and just the way he played basketball would’ve been so annoying to other teams. He shouldn’t have had some offensive explosions like he did, and it would just be super frustrating to be a fan of another team if he got hot from the field. Now, we actually can know what that feels like since he just hit the portal and will be playing for fellow ACC member North Carolina.

Kyle McAlarney

Jim O’Connor-USA TODAY Sports

Oh man could this dude shoot it from deep - man he was fun to watch. If I would’ve been a fan of another Big East basketball team in that era, I would’ve been punching the air having to play against Kyle McAlarney. He would hit a ton of shots from three-point land and was definitely scrappy and scruffy looking. It was just a perfect combo.

Who else (from any sport) is on your list of Notre Dame athletes like this? Sound off in the comments.