First Linebacker Ever Invited to Heisman's Party

The Heisman Trophy was just awarded to the 20 year-old sophomore QB from Texas A&M -- Johnny Football -- who stood on the sidelines last season.

He edged out Notre Dame's Manti Te'o -- who received the most voting points for a defensive player in the 78 year history of the Heisman Trophy.

HEISMANTI

BRING ON BAMA!

Will Manti Win Notre Dame's 8th Heisman?

In less than 12 hours from now -- Notre Dame fans all over the world will be tuning in to the HEISMAN TROPHY presentation -- with hopes that Manti Te'o will become the eighth Notre Dame All-American to win college football's most coveted prize.

The Heisman Trophy presentation begins at 8 PM ET on ESPN.

The odds are against this happening -- yet, after a football season that was not expected -- why not one more surprise!

WHAT THOUGH THE ODDS BE GREAT OR SMALL...

Here's what's certain -- the HEISMAN TROPHY will be better served in the hands of Manti Te'o.  (Illustration above from the Chicago Tribune's Joe Darrow)

I took a lap around the media to see what they're saying about the Heisman -- just click on the links below:

LINK:  YAHOO SPORTS

LINK:  CSN CHICAGO

LINK:  ABC 57 SOUTH BEND

LINK:  FOX SPORTS

LINK:  ESPN NOTRE DAME BLOG

LINK:  WNDU-TV SOUTH BEND

LINK:  CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER

LINK:  ESPN EXPERTS' POLL

Senior Parents Video: Makes Me Cry Every Time

The Notre Dame Football video staff produces an annual Senior Parents Video -- that I will admit, brings me to tears every time I watch it.  Here's the video that was produced for last night's "The Echoes" -- Notre Dame's Football Awards Show.

LINK:  SENIOR PARENTS VIDEO

Top College Players Pick the Heisman Winner!

ESPN interviewed a number of the best college football players at Disney World the past few days -- asking them who should win the Heisman Trophy...

LINK:  WHO WINS THE HEISMAN?

Watch the ND Football Awards Show LIVE !!!

The #1 ranked Fighting Irish will celebrate their undefeated season TONIGHT at the beautiful DeBartolo Performing Arts Center on the campus of the University of Notre Dame.  The event sold-out immediately -- so the next best thing is to watch it LIVE on the web.

I'm told the broadcast will begin at 8 PM ET.  Should be fun!

LINK:  NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL AWARDS SHOW

The Most HONORED CFB Player of All-Time!

Manti Te'o is the most honored PLAYER to ever wear the GOLD HELMET in the 125 year history of Notre Dame football...

And, now -- THE HISTORY OF COLLEGE FOOTBALL!

Manti Te'o has now won SIX NATIONAL AWARDS -- with the Heisman Trophy left -- which is already more than ANY COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYER in HISTORY!!!

Here are the honors he's received so far:

• Maxwell Award -- the best football player in the country
• Walter Camp Player of the Year Award -- top player in the country
• Bednarik Award -- top defensive player in the country
• Butkus Award -- top linebacker in the country
• Bronco Nagurski Trophy -- top defensive player in the country
• Lombardi Award -- top lineman or linebacker in the country

Will the Heisman be next...

 LINK:  VIDEO OF MANTI WINNING MAXWELL AWARD

"Notre Dame Football Awards Show" Tonight!

Folks, this night has been a long time coming...

At 7:30 PM ET -- TONIGHT -- The Home Depot College Football Awards Show (AKA The Notre Dame Football Awards Show) will be televised on ESPN.

This is MUST SEE TV -- for the entire Notre Dame Family.

It's expected that Notre Dame's Ara Parseghian, Brian Kelly, Tyler Eifert and "some guy named" Manti will be standing on the stage accepting well deserved accolades from the college football world.

LINK:  HOME DEPOT COLLEGE FOOTBALL AWARDS SHOW

Manti Te'o Wins Lombardi Award Tonight!

Can you believe the week Manti is having!!!

He and Coach Kelly are flying all over the country to pick up HARDWARE.  Tonight they were in Houston, TX where Manti became the fifth player in Notre Dame history to receive the Lombardi Award.


YOU MUST WATCH HIS ACCEPTANCE SPEECH -- he's special...

Here's the speech:

LINK:  MANTI TE'O WINS LOMBARDI AWARD

Brian Kelly Named COACH OF THE YEAR!

Word got out today that the University of Notre Dame's Brian Kelly has been selected (for the second time in his career) the Home Depot Coach of the Year Award!

And, Notre Dame's Tyler Eifert was awarded the Mackey Award as the nation's top Tight End...

Boy, the hardware keeps rollin' in for the IRISH!

Both Coach Kelly and Tyler Eifert will receive their awards tomorrow night on ESPN during the Home Depot College Football Awards Show.  This will be must see - TV!

LINK:  KELLY AND EIFERT

Comic Strip of the Day!!!

Thought you'd enjoy this...

Skylar & Manti -- Only Notre Dame!

The two BMOC's at Notre Dame wear a Headband and a Lei...

Skylar Diggins and Manti Te'o recently sat down with Kate Sullivan '98 and talked about their Notre Dame experience.  Good stuff here:

LINK:  SKYLAR AND MANTI

ND Athletic Director Talks Football and Hoops

Jack Swarbrick sat down with Fighting Irish Digital Media's Jack Nolan this week to talk about the Notre Dame football program and men's basketball program...

LINK:  SWARBRICK ON FOOTBALL

LINK:  SWARBRICK ON BASKETBALL

"200 Phone Calls Per Hour" ND Bookstore...

It appears the Notre Dame Family has been awaken!

A story ran this morning that "demand for Notre Dame branded merchandise is reaching HISTORIC LEVELS..."  Here's the link:

LINK:  HISTORIC LEVELS

Manti Mania -- Continues Today, the Latest...

This is quite a week for Notre Dame's two-time All-American -- he collected two national awards yesterday (Butkus and Nagurski) to go with the Sportsmanship award he received last Thursday night...

Is there a HEISMAN in Manti's future?

Sure hope so!


LINK:  ESPN BLOG -- "ALL THINGS HEISMAN"

LINK:  THE OKLAHOMAN

LINK:  CHICAGO TRIBUNE

LINK:  CHICAGO SUN-TIMES

LINK:  USA TODAY

LINK:  ASSOCIATED PRESS

LINK:  PHILLY MAGAZINE

LINK:  HAWAII REPORTER

LINK:  NBC CHICAGO

Manti Wins the Bronco Nagurski Award !!!

The Charlotte Touchdown Club awarded Notre Dame's All-American Linebacker the Nagurski Award -- symbolizing the top defensive player in the nation!

Once again, Manti is the first Notre Dame player to win this award!

Congrats!

LINK:  TE'O WINS NAGURSKI

When Did the WSJ Turn Into a Sports Paper?

Some of the more engaging stories these past few weeks on Notre Dame football have come from the Wall Street Journal -- can you believe it!

Here's another fun story about Notre Dame's game with Alabama:

LINK:  BAMA, NOTRE DAME, OH MY!

Looks Like We'll Have Some Fans in Bama!

The students at Auburn have created these "WAR IRISH" t-shirts to wear to show they're rooting for Notre Dame in the BCS National Championship game...

Does that mean "half the state" of Alabama will be rooting for ND?

Manti Te'o -- Butkus Award Winner!!!

This is the first HONOR of many this week for Notre Dame's two-time All-American Linebacker -- as Dick Butkus personally called Manti to let him know he's been selected to win the award. 

He'll be presented the Butkus Award on December 17th on the Notre Dame campus.

Manti Te'o is the first Notre Dame player to ever receive this award.

Congratulations Manti!

LINK:  BUTKUS AWARD

BCS Bowl Teams -- Graduation Success Rate

The BCS Bowl Selection Show aired this evening on ESPN -- and here's the list of the teams playing in the BCS Bowl Games and their NCAA Graduation Success Rate.  As well as all of the other Bowl Games...

If you look at the BCS Bowl Match-ups -- you have three of the five games that will have a hard time selling all of their tickets:  Sugar Bowl, Orange Bowl and yes, the Rose Bowl... 


BCS National Championship Game -- January 7, 2013

• #1 Notre Dame: 97 GSR
• #2 Alabama:  75 GSR

Current Betting Line:  Alabama is an 8.5 point favorite.
 

Rose Bowl Game -- January 1, 2013

• #6 Stanford:  90 GSR
• NR Wisconsin:  65 GSR

Current Betting Line:  Stanford is a 7.5 point favorite.

Sugar Bowl Game -- January 2, 2013:

• #3 Florida:  75 GSR
• #21 Louisville:  63 GSR

Current Betting Line:  Florida is a 16.5 point favorite.
 

Orange Bowl Game -- January 1, 2013:

•  #12 Florida State:  55 GSR
•  #15 Northern Illinois:  83 GSR

Current Betting Line:  Florida State is a 14 point favorite.


Fiesta Bowl Game -- January 3, 2013:

•  #4 Oregon:  64 GSR
•  #5 Kansas State:  58 GSR

Current Betting Line:  Oregon is an 8.5 point favorite.


ADDITIONAL BOWL GAMES

Cotton Bowl -- January 1, 2013

• #9 Texas A&M:  69 GSR
• #11 Oklahoma:  47 GSR

Capital One Bowl -- January 1, 2013

• #7 Georgia:  69 GSR
• #16 Nebraska:  68 GSR

Outback Bowl -- January 1, 2013

• #10 South Carolina:  55 GSR
• #18 Michigan:  69 GSR

Chick-Fil-A Bowl -- December 31, 2012

• #8 LSU:  77 GSR
• #14 Clemson:  75 GSR

Alamo Bowl -- December 28, 2012

• #23 Texas:  58 GSR
• #13 Oregon State:  60 GSR

Holiday Bowl -- December 27, 2012

• #17 UCLA:  62 GSR
• NR Baylor:  63 GSR

MAACO Bowl Las Vegas -- December 22, 2012

• NR Washington:  74 GSR
• #19 Boise State:  81 GSR

 LINK:  FINAL BCS STANDINGS

Quinn Leads Chiefs to Emotional Win Today...

Former Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn, led his grief stricken teammates to only their second win of the season today -- throwing two TD's in the Chiefs' 27 to 21 victory over the Carolina Panthers.

Chiefs' starting LB Jovan Belcher shot and killed his girlfriend yesterday morning before turning the gun on himself a little later in front of coaches at the Kansas City Chiefs practice facility.

Brady was 19 for 23 for 201 yards and the two touchdown passes.  It was Quinn's first win as a starter for the Chiefs.  Here's what's being said about today's game...

LINK:  KANSAS CITY STAR

LINK:  BRADY QUINN POST GAME

LINK:  CHIEFS POSTGAME LOCKER ROOM