ECHOE Awards 2013

Friday night Notre Dame Football held their annual ECHOES Awards event for the 93 time in their history.  Here’s a quick review and a few thoughts from Talking Irish.  However if you want to watch the entire show CLICK HERE.

 Scout Team Player of the Year, Offense- Torii Hunter Jr.  No real surprise here, Torii would most likely have been a contributor on the field this season as a freshman if it weren’t for the fact he was recovering from an injury suffered before the season even started.  Look for Hunter to make an impact day one next season

Defensive Scout Team Player of the Year – Joe Romano.  There are probably more talented players on the scout team, there are defiantly players who will have a more impactful career as Romano is a walk on senior but there may not be any with more heart.

Newcomer of the Year - Tarean Folston.  Hard to argue this selection, Folston should be exciting to follow over the next several season.  Talking Irish Honorable Mention – Corey Robinson

Father Lange Iron Cross Award (recognizes strength & conditioning excellence) – Carlos Calabrese.  No surprise that a guy who works out at a place call “House  of Iron” would win this award.

Special Teams Player of the Year - Kyle Brindza.  Not to take anything away from Brindza but the Irish did not (and has not) have a lot of other options for this award.

Pietrosante Award (for best teammate, courage, loyalty, teamwork, pride and dedication) – Chris Watt and Dan Fox.  Hopefully there were many options for this award.  However without a doubt from everything I have heard these two most assuredly deserve this recognition.

The Moose Krause Lineman of the Year (Defensive Lineman) – Stephon Tuitt.  This is the second time Tuitt has won this award.  I would love for him to try for a third.  Due to injuries along the defensive line this season there were not a lot of other options here.

Guardian Life Insurance Lineman of the Year (Offensive Lineman) – Zack Martin.  One thing is for sure…someone else will win this next year after Martin has won it four consecutive years. 

The Next Man in Award - Kona Schwenke.  Even though at times it seemed as if half the team could qualify for this award it is well deserved for Schwenke who could have been a starter on half the teams in the country.

Offensive Player of the Year – Tommy Rees.  Although this may be debatable we can’t really argue that Rees is in the conversation; 2938 yards and 27 touchdown passes moving him into elite status statistically of all-time great Irish Quarterbacks.

Defensive Player of the Year - Prince Shembo. He is a beast and has been a catalyst for this defense all season.   Shembo highlighted his talents against Arizona State with 7 tackles and 3 sacks.  Talking Irish Honorable Mention: Dan Fox

Most Valuable Player – T.J. Jones.  If consistency was a barometer for this award this should be no shock at all.  Jones has been looked to all year and has answered the bell each time.