NFL Rookie Mini-Camp Updates on ND Players

Took a lap around the worldwide web this evening to see what's being reported from NFL Rookie Mini-Camps about former Notre Dame football players -- that is T.J Jones wearing #13 for the Detroit Lions in the photo above...

LINK:  DALLAS COWBOYS -- ZACK MARTIN

LINK:  PITTSBURGH STEELERS -- STEPHON TUITT 

LINK:  ARIZONA CARDINALS -- TROY NIKLAS

LINK:  HOUSTON TEXANS -- LOUIS NIX

LINK:  SAN DIEGO CHARGERS -- CHRIS WATT

LINK:  ATLANTA FALCONS -- PRINCE SHEMBO

LINK:  DETROIT LIONS -- T.J. JONES

LINK:  NEW YORK GIANTS -- BENNETT JACKSON

LINK:  WASHINGTON REDSKINS -- TOMMY REES

LINK:  OAKLAND RAIDERS -- GEORGE ATKINSON III

2014 Commencement at Notre Dame Stadium

The "house that Rock built" is preparing for its last event ever on "real grass" -- as the crews here at Notre Dame set-up the Stadium for Sunday's Commencement.

The installation of field turf -- which will take many weeks -- begins Monday.

There is a web-cam located inside Notre Dame Stadium -- updating photos every 15 minutes of the set-up progress.  Click on the link below to take a look:

LINK:  LIVE WEB CAM

NASCAR CEO: Talks Domer Choice in Iowa

NASCAR CEO Brian France met with the media today -- on the eve of their first weekend of racing at Iowa Speedway -- to talk about the purchase of the race track and his selection of Notre Dame alum Jimmy Small '08 to run this operation.  Here's the story:

LINK:  FRANCE ON SMALL'S HIRING

Zack Martin Will Now Wear Cowboys Jersey #70

The Dallas Cowboys released Frank Kearse -- clearing the way for former Notre Dame student-athlete to wear his familiar jersey #70.  See the story below...

I wonder if they'll be issuing refunds to the Cowboy fans who bought the Zack Martin jersey #71?

LINK:  ZACK MARTIN'S NEW NUMBER

MSU AD Jokes About Playing ND At the Vatican

The Big Ten Athletic Directors have been meeting this week in Rosemont, IL and wouldn't you know it -- Notre Dame was on the mind.

Michigan State's Athletic Director Mark Hollis (photo above) let it be known that he's in conversations with Notre Dame about playing "five times" over a fourteen year period -- then he threw out the idea of playing in Rome...

LINK:  MSU AD TALKS NOTRE DAME

Three ND Students Win Sunset Film Festival!

Three Notre Dame seniors; Katie Mattie '14, Vincent Moore '14 and Will Neal '14 -- (photo above of them walking the "red carpet" in Hollywood) took first place for the Short Documentary category at the Sunset International Film Festival for their film "The Suicide Disease."

This is a pretty big deal. 

The film tells the story of Frances Shavers -- a former chief of staff for Fr. John Jenkins, C.S.C., president of the University of Notre Dame -- who suffers from Trigeminal Neuralgia, considered "one of the most painful experiences in the human experience."

Frances was brave enough to allow these three Notre Dame students to tell her story in this sixteen-minute film.

This is MUST SEE -- France Shavers is an inspiration...

LINK:  THE SUICIDE DISEASE

Troy Niklas Arrives at Cardinals' Workout

The Arizona Cardinals selected former Notre Dame tight end Troy Niklas on the second round -- teaming him at that position with former Irish standout Jon Carlson.  (photo above has Troy on left and Carlson on the right).

The story linked below is the first interview of Niklas since his selection by the Cardinals:

LINK:  NIKLAS A CARDINAL

Steelers: Stephon Tuitt Gets His Gear!

The Pittsburgh Steelers posted these photos of former Notre Dame defensive lineman Stephon Tuitt getting his helmet fitted and his shoes for their Rookie Mini-Camp.  Here's the story:

LINK:  TUITT IS EXCITED TO PLAY...

Detroit Tigers' Tori Hunter Sr. -- Hit By Pitch

Detroit Tiger outfielder Torii Hunter Sr. -- who doubles as the father of Notre Dame student-athlete Torii Hunter Jr. -- was drilled by a 94 mph fastball last night that looked quite intentional.  

It escalated from there...

Here's more of the story:

LINK:  BASEBALL TONIGHT'S REPORT

LINK:  HUNTER TALKS WITH THE MEDIA

CBS Sports: Texans Get an "A" for Nix Pick!

The folks at CBS Sports weighed in on the Houston Texans selection of former Notre Dame student-athlete Louis Nix '14 who they selected in the third round of this weekend's 2014 NFL Draft.  See story below:

LINK:  LOUIS NIX

San Diego Chargers: Chris Watt Media Session

Former Notre Dame student-athlete Chris Watt '13 -- was drafted 89th overall by the San Diego Chargers in last weekend's 2014 NFL Draft.  Here's a story about Chris and the versatility he brings to the Chargers' offensive line -- along with a video of his inaugural media session in San Diego:

LINK:  CHRIS WATT

NFL Draft: Notre Dame Football Stands Alone!

77 years and counting -- that's how many years in a row that a member of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team has been drafted by a NFL Team -- the longest such streak in college football history.

The NFL Draft began in 1936 -- that year the Fighting Irish had five players drafted, including the #3 pick overall Bill Shakespeare.  In 1937 -- not a single Notre Dame player was drafted -- thus, the current streak began in 1938...

Notre Dame stands alone -- because the Texas Longhorns, who like ND had a 76 year streak going into the 2014 NFL Draft -- went without a single player drafted for the first time since 1938.  Here's the story:

LINK:  NOTRE DAME STANDS ALONE

LINK:  ALL-TIME LIST OF NOTRE DAME PLAYERS DRAFTED INTO THE NFL

Holy Cross College Graduates Reflect...

I was sent this video yesterday (via Twitter) from the folks across the street at Holy Cross College -- who celebrated their 47th Commencement exercises yesterday afternoon.  It's a video of a number of their seniors reflecting on their time at Holy Cross College.

I am very fond of this institution.

Enjoy!

LINK:  HOLY CROSS COLLEGE

Happy Mother's Day!

It's a sunny Mother's Day morning -- just a few blocks away from the college campus named after Mary Our Mother -- the University of Notre Dame.

As a special treat, I've attached two videos below of the world-famous Notre Dame Glee Club singing Ave Maria and Notre Dame, Our Mother.

Happy Mother's Day to all of the Mom's out there!


LINK:  AVE MARIA

LINK:  NOTRE DAME, OUR MOTHER

Pittsburgh Steelers: Photo of Stephon Tuitt

Here's a photo of Stephon Tuitt arriving in Pittsburgh today -- signing autographs for Steeler fans.

San Diego Chargers: Photo of Chris Watt

 

Former Notre Dame student-athlete Chris Watt -- left on a plane this morning from Chicago to start his new life as a professional football player in San Diego.  Very happy for you Chris!

Teams Signing ND Players to Free Agent Deals

Here's the list -- as the information becomes available -- of the former Notre Dame football players who sign free agent deals with NFL teams this evening.  The first to agree to a deal was George Atkinson -- and he signed with his Dad's old team, the Oakland Raiders.  Here's the list:

• George Atkinson III -- Oakland Raiders
• Dan Fox -- New York Giants
• Carlo Calabrese -- Cleveland Browns
• Tommy Rees -- Washington Redskins
• Kona Schwenke -- Kansas City Chiefs
• Mike Golic, Jr. -- New Orleans Saints

NFL Draft: Eight Notre Dame Players Selected!

After three long days -- the Fighting Irish ended up with eight former student-athletes drafted in the first six rounds of the 2014 NFL Draft -- the most since 1994!

The top photo is of the "luxury bus" that picked up Zack Martin at the Dallas airport to take him to the Cowboy's facility -- you're going to want to click on the "SLIDE SHOW" below...

Today -- Prince Shembo, Bennett Jackson and T.J. Jones joined their five teammates as NFL drafted players -- pretty awesome!  Here's the detail on all eight players:


ZACK MARTIN -- Drafted 16th overall (1st Round) by the Dallas Cowboys

• Signing bonus:  $5.3 million
• Projected value of first NFL contract:  $9.6 million
• Introductory Press Conference:  ZACK
• Zach's arrival to Dallas:  SLIDE SHOW

STEPHON TUITT -- Drafted 46th overall (2nd Round) by the Pittsburgh Steelers

• Signing bonus:  $1.8 million
• Projected value of first NFL contract:  $4.8 million
• Pittsburgh Steelers Press Conference:  LINK 

TROY NIKLAS -- Drafted 52nd overall (2nd Round) by the Arizona Cardinals

• Signing bonus:  $1.4 million
• Projected value of first NFL contract:  $4.2 million
• Arizona Cardinals Press Conference:  LINK

LOUIS NIX III -- Drafted 83rd overall (3rd Round) by the Houston Texans

• Signing bonus:  $630,000
• Projected value of first NFL contract:  $2.9 million
• Houston Texans Press Conference:  LINK
• Interview: IRISH CHOCOLATE

CHRIS WATT -- Drafted 89th overall (3rd Round) by the San Diego Chargers

• Signing bonus:  $600,000
• Projected value of first NFL contract:  $2.9 million
• San Diego Chargers Press Conference:  LINK

PRINCE SHEMBO -- Drafted 139th overall (4th Round) by the Atlanta Falcons

• Signing bonus:  $330,000
• Projected value of first NFL contract:  $2.5 million 
• Interview:  PRINCE 

BENNETT JACKSON -- Drafted 187th overall (6th Round) by the New York Giants

• Signing bonus:  $121,000
• Projected value of first NFL contract:  $2.3 million 
• New York Giants Press Conference:  LINK

T.J. JONES -- Drafted 189th overall (6th Round) by the Detroit Lions

• Signing bonus:  $116,000
• Projected value of first NFL contract:  $2.3 million 
• Detroit Lions Press Conference:  LINK

LINK:  NOTRE DAME -- 2014 NFL DRAFT PICKS

ND Softball in ACC Championship Game Today!

The #20 ranked Fighting Irish made a remarkable comeback (from five runs down) to beat Virginia Tech yesterday in the ACC Championship Semi-finals to advance to today's Championship game against #4 ranked Florida State.

The game will be televised LIVE on ESPN2 beginning at 2 PM ET -- GO IRISH!

Here's a few highlights from yesterday's comeback win!

LINK:  BIG WIN!

ND's New Field: A Baseball Field With No Dirt!

Folks, I'd never thought I'd see the day when you couldn't find a "spec of dirt" on a baseball field...

NONE.

Notre Dame baseball's new playing surface is made entirely from field turf, even the pitching mound!  Here's a few of the photos I could find online of this "unique" -- beautiful field.  The bottom photo was taken by Notre Dame's award winning photographer Matt Cashore -- which I'm sure you could buy at photos.nd.edu

Oh, by the way -- the Fighting Irish (behind the pitching of multi-sport star Pat Connaughton) beat #24 ranked Clemson 2 - 1 in the first game on their new playing surface.