The Super Bowl is over and the NFL draft is on the horizon and both help the Irish recruiting scheme. Justin Tuck’s play during the Super Bowl and the Giants subsequent victory drew attention to the former Notre Dame football player. It definitely does not hurt to hear Notre Dame football associated with a Super Bowl champion. I am sure that defensive line recruits Jarron Jones and Sheldon Day don’t believe that signing with the Irish guarantee them an NFL career or let alone a Super Bowl ring. I’m sure that Tuck has good things to say about his experiences in South Bend, but I am not sure he would say he owes it all to Notre Dame. It does. However, look good to high school students deciding on a college football program for their on-field development.
As the NFL draft approaches, several former players are hoping to get picked earlier than later or at the very least get invited to a training camp and sign on as a free agent. If you hear “with the (fill in the number) pick in the 2012 NFL draft the (fill in the team name) select (fill in name) from the University of Notre Dame,” that would send a very positive message about the quality of football in South Bend. Over the years Irish players have gone early and often and they have also gone late (ask Brady Quinn) and sometimes not at all.
Michael Floyd is without question going to be Notre Dame’s highest drafted player this year, with more than a good chance of going in the first round. Floyd was a great athlete when he came to South Bend and may have had a good if not great college career somewhere else, but there is no debating that his time at Notre Dame and with Brian Kelly made him a better person. Floyd could have left after his junior year for the NFL, especially after his trouble with drinking and driving, but the Irish (specifically Kelly) worked with him as a young man first and then as a football player, which paid big dividends. Now Michael will get a big contract payoff, and again high school players and their parents will take notice of what college programs do to help them get to the next level as young men and as football players.
The importance of getting players to the next level of football for a school is an issue of both quality and quantity. Floyd will bring quality by being a high draft pick and there are several players that may get drafted and several others from Notre Dame that can make an NFL team as a free agent. Every time an NFL prospect or player is announced “from the University of Notre Dame” is helps promote Irish Football.
