Ranking the 5 Best NFL Players From Notre Dame

Summary

• After winning a national championship at Notre Dame, Joe Montana led the San Francisco 49ers to four Super Bowl victories.
• An All-American and two-time national champion with the Fighting Irish, Alan Page became the first defensive player to win NFL MVP.
• A first-round pick out of Notre Dame, Tim Brown was a strong returner before developing into an all-time great NFL wideout.

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are one of the most distinctive teams in the world of college football. In a college athletic landscape that has been infiltrated by battles of imperialism and super conferences, Notre Dame remains the only major independent football program.

Instead of a flashy or colorful logo, the Irish dawn a simplistic gold helmet, bereft of any type of artistry or emblem. The school even has its own network, with all home games being televised by NBC.

While all of these contributing factors to Notre Dame’s brand, it’s the on-field excellence that has done most for the Fighting Irish’s status. With 11 claimed national championships and 12 perfect seasons, it’s easy to see why it remains a blue-blood program. It goes without saying, but the Irish wouldn’t have seen this level of sustained success without premier individual talent on both sides of the ball.

Notre Dame has produced seven Heisman Trophy winners, five No. 1 overall draft picks, and the most NFL players of all time, sending more than 600 to the league over the years.

Of those 600-plus, here are the five best NFL players to come from Notre Dame.

1

Joe Montana

Montana spearheaded the San Francisco 49ers’ dynasty

Before Tom Brady took the league by storm in the 2000s and went on to win a record seven Super Bowl titles, Joe Montana was viewed as the game’s consummate winner.

He won a national championship at Notre Dame in 1977 and was selected by the San Francisco 49ers in the third round of the 1979 NFL Draft. Montana was immediately one of the most accurate quarterbacks in football, leading the league in completion percentage in 1980 and 1981. That trend continued well into his career, as he led the NFL in that category three more times, including a career-best 70.2% in 1989.

With Montana at the helm, the 49ers appeared in four Super Bowls, winning them all. In addition to the team success, Montana racked up his fair share of individual hardware, winning 1989 Offensive Player of the Year, back-to-back NFL MVPs in 1989 and 1990, and three Super Bowl MVPs.

He spent the final years of his career with the Kansas City Chiefs after the 49ers opted to make Steve Young the franchise quarterback and retired after the 1994 season.

Montana ultimately completed 63.2% of his passes for 40,551 yards and 273 touchdowns. While Jerry Rice and Niners head coach Bill Walsh certainly elevated Montana, there is no denying who the driving force was behind the San Francisco dynasty.

2

Alan Page

Page took the Vikings’ defense to new heights and made NFL history

Alan Page was the most celebrated member of the Minnesota Vikings‘ legendary 1970s defensive line, dubbed “The Purple People Eaters.” He was an All-American and a two-time national champion with the Irish before going 15th overall in the 1967 draft.

Page’s impact was felt immediately, as he registered 8.5 sacks as a rookie and averaged more than 10 per season over the next three years.

Page also made NFL history by becoming the first defensive player to win NFL MVP, receiving the honor in 1971, and is still only one of two to do so, the other being New York Giants legendary linebacker Lawrence Taylor.

Behind Page and the rest of the defensive line, the Vikings became a powerhouse and reached four Super Bowls in an eight-year stretch, although they came up short each time. Despite the absence of a championship, Page remains one of the most decorated defensive players in NFL history.

He made nine Pro Bowls and eight All-Pro teams and was named NFL Defensive Player of the Year the same year he took MVP honors. Had it not been for Aaron Donald of the Los Angeles Rams, Page would be a more popular pick for the greatest defensive tackle ever.

3

Tim Brown

Brown gradually developed into a Hall of Fame receiver

Tim Brown entered the NFL with plenty of momentum following a Heisman Trophy-winning 1987 season at Notre Dame.

While it took Brown some time to adapt to life as a wide receiver at the pro level, he was a great kick returner from the get-go for the then- Los Angeles Raiders. He led the league in kick return yardage and yards per return in 1988 and scored a total of four special teams touchdowns during his career.

It wasn’t until 1993 that Brown became a 1,000-yard receiver, catching 80 passes for 1,180 yards and seven touchdowns. He slowly morphed into one of the league’s more reliable pass catchers, even leading the league in receptions in 1997.

This was a stark contrast to the version of Brown that attended Notre Dame, which was an explosive receiver that saw no more than a handful of targets come his way each week. Brown made nine Pro Bowls during his NFL career and remains a Raiders fan favorite. He finished his career with 1,094 receptions for 14,934 receiving yards and 100 receiving touchdowns.

4

Zack Martin

Martin is one of the most complete players today

The most modern entry on this list is Dallas Cowboys offensive guard Zack Martin, who has put together an impressive NFL career that has made him the standard at his position. Martin, a Second-Team All-American at Notre Dame, had more experience at tackle when entering the league, but without the preferred measurable, he was moved inside.

There, he flashed his best traits and was able to cover up some of his weaknesses. Martin was always a very cerebral and technically refined blocker. He showed the ability to work combo blocks and pass up stunts. Moreover, Martin’s hand placement was incredibly sound for a younger player.

By the end of his first season with America’s Team, he was already being deemed the best at his position. In the following years, Martin only strengthened those claims, making nine Pro Bowls and nine All-Pro teams for Dallas. He is one of the most complete players in the NFL today and serves as a great example of holistic guard play.

5

Nick Buoniconti

Buoniconti’s position change paid dividends

Nick Buoniconti flew under the radar after his Notre Dame career. Unselected in the NFL draft coming out of South Bend, he was a 13th-round pick in the 1962 AFL Draft and wasn’t guaranteed any playing time by the then- Boston Patriots. Buoniconti played on the defensive line for the Irish, but the Patriots had other plans in mind and played their rookie at linebacker, which yielded positive results.

In seven years with the Pats, Buoniconti made five AFL All-Star Games and four First-Team All-AFL squads and was an active leader on defense. At 220 pounds, he was still very undersized, but Buoniconti was athletic and intelligent enough to contribute as an off-ball linebacker.

He was traded to the Miami Dolphins in 1969 and continued to produce, again earning AFL All-Star and First-Team All-AFL honors. He then went on to win back-to-back Super Bowls with the franchise, earning Second-Team All-Pro honors each year.

It’s worth noting that Buoniconti was runner-up in Defensive Player of the Year voting in 1972, the same season the Dolphins went a perfect 14-0 in the regular season and 17-0 overall. Given the individual accolades and his role on one of the NFL’s most celebrated teams, Buoniconti’s inclusion in this list is well deserved.

All stats courtesy of Sports Reference unless stated otherwise.