Notre Dame Early Departures To NFL Becoming An Annual Norm
On Feb. 17, 1990, the NFL declared it would allow college football players who had completed their junior years to be eligible for the spring draft. It was the last major professional sports organization to allow this practice.
A year later, Notre Dame wide receiver/running back/return man Raghib "Rocket" Ismail, the 1990 Walter Camp Award winner and Heisman Trophy runner-up as a junior, was the first to exercise that option, although his career would begin in the Canadian Football League.
Since then, 17 other Notre Dame players joined him, with tight end Cole Kmet the most recent this week. .
Our definition of turning pro “early” is after the junior year. It doesn’t apply to returning for a fifth season of eligibility.
For example, former Irish standouts in this century such as center Jeff Faine (1999-2002), defensive end Justin Tuck(2001-04), tight ends Anthony Fasano (2002-05) and Tyler Eifert (2009-12), nose guard Louis Nix (2010-13) guard Quenton Nelson (2014-17) or receiver Miles Boykin (2015-18) all had a fifth season of eligibility, but because they were on pace to graduate (or already had graduated) as seniors, we do not consider them “early entries” after their senior years.
Same with running back Tony Jones Jr. (2016-19), who is not returning for a fifth season in 2020..
Prior to Kmet, here are the 16 Notre Dame players who did turn pro after their junior season — with 12 of them occurring since 2010, or shortly after Brian Kelly was hired as head coach in December 2009.
Raghib “Rocket” Ismail (1991)
Projected as the No. 1 overall NFL pick in 1991, he instead signed a then unheard of $18.2 million deal over four years with the CFL’s Toronto Argonauts.
As a rookie he was the Grey Cup MVP while leading Toronto to the title, but he opted to join the NFL’s Oakland Raiders by 1993. During his nine-year NFL career with Oakland/Los Angeles, Carolina and Dallas, Ismail caught 313 passes for 5,295 yards (16.9 yards per catch) and 30 touchdowns before retiring at the end of the 2001 season.
Jerome Bettis & Tom Carter (1993)
“The Bus” was the No. 10 overall pick of the then Los Angeles Rams, while cornerback Carter was selected by Washington with the No. 17 pick.
Bettis was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2015 after a magnificent 14-year NFL career that was capped with a Super Bowl title with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Carter totaled nine years with three different franchises, recording 98 starts and 27 interceptions (six as a rookie).
Bobby Taylor (1995)
Even though he played half of 1994 with a broken hand, Taylor was projected a first-round pick at corner. He was stunned when six other cornerbacks were taken ahead of him and he dropped to the 50th overall pick in the second round, by the Philadelphia Eagles.
He ended up with a 10-year NFL career (the first nine at Philadelphia), highlighted by earning All-Pro honors in 2002.
Darius Walker (2007)
Far and away the most surprising decision, incensing head coach Charlie Weis in the process. Walker had an ultra-productive college career, finishing as Notre Dame’s fourth all-time leading rusher (3,249 yards) and first in passes caught by a running back (109). However, because he possessed neither superb size nor game-breaking speed, he was bypassed in the draft.
Walker latched on temporarily with Houston, St. Louis, Dallas and Denver from 2007-09, producing 264 rushing yards and a touchdown during that time. He returned to Notre Dame in 2009 to earn his degree.
Jimmy Clausen & Golden Tate (2010)
Projected in some circles as a top-10 NFL pick, Clausen plummeted to No. 48 (second round). Clausen played in 13 games as a 2010 rookie, starting 10, but had an extremely low rating. Rookie Cam Newton than took over in 2011. Clausen has not played since 2015 as a reserve, and finished 1-13 as a starter.
The 2009 Biletnikoff Award winner, Tate was also taken in the second round (60th overall pick), signing a four-year deal with the Seattle Seahawks for $3.261 million. A Super Bowl champion with the Seahawks, he caught a minimum of 91 passes four straight seasons at Detroit from 2014-17 before getting "limited" to 74 for 795 yards and four touchdowns in 2018.
This year with the New York Giants he snared 49 passes for 676 yards and six touchdowns. His 660 career catches for 7,890 yards (44 touchdowns) are second among Irish alumni to Pro Football Hall of Fame member Tim Brown's 1,094 catches for 14,934 yards.
Kyle Rudolph (2011)
Also a second-round pick (43rd overall), but the first tight end. He signed a four-year deal worth $3,907,164 and had a good rookie year with 28 catches (three touchdowns).
Rudolph has nabbed 425 career passes (39 this year) and 47 touchdowns (six this year) with the Minnesota Vikings. He made the Pro Bowl last season and has been nominated for the Walter Payton NFL Man of The Year Award for his work in the community.
Stephon Tuitt, Troy Niklas & George Atkinson III (2014)
Defensive lineman Tuitt was the No. 46 pick (second round) and has been a mainstay for the Pittsburgh Steelers, signing a six-year, $61.05 million deal in September 2017. A torn pec muscle that required surgery sidelined him after the sixth game this season..
Also a second-round pick (No. 52 overall), tight end Niklas completed his second year as an unsigned free agent after completing an injury ravaged four-year career at Arizona, where he caught 19 passes for 203 yards and three scores in his time there.
Atkinson latched on as a free agent at Oakland and last played for Cleveland in 2016, and tragically died by suicide this past December.
Jaylon Smith & Will Fuller (2016)
A projected top-10 pick prior to a devastating knee injury in the 2016 Fiesta Bowl, Smith dropped to the second round (No. 34 overall), sat out his rookie season but has rebounded with productive campaigns the past two seasons.
He signed a five-year, $64-million deal in August ($35.5 guaranteed), and this year he recorded 142 tackles, among the top 10 in the NFL. He also recorded his first career interception in the final game.
First-round wideout Fuller (No. 21 overall) snared 47 passes as a rookie, two for scores, and in 2017 seven of his 28 catches resulted in touchdowns, but he missed six games with an injury. A torn ACL in 2018 sidelined him after he was on pace for a huge season, and this season he caught 49 passes for 670 yards and three scores, but will likely miss this weekend's wild-card playoff game because of a groin injury.
He has caught 156 passes for 2,231 yards and 16 touchdowns through four years.
DeShone Kizer (2017)
The second-round pick (No. 52 overall) landed with his home state Cleveland Browns and went through the throes (not just throws) of a 0-16 campaign as a rookie. He started 15 games, passed for 2,894 yards with 11 touchdowns and 22 interceptions, and rushed for 419 yards and five scores.
This year he was traded to Green Bay and was a backup for Aaron Rodgers. This Sept. 1 he was claimed off waivers by the Oakland Raiders and was the backup for Derek Carr.
Josh Adams & Equanimeous St. Brown (2018)
Although neither ranked high on the draft boards, both latched on as rookies, Adams as a free agent with the Philadelphia Eagles, near his home, and St. Brown as a sixth-round selection of the Green Bay Packers.
Injury situations helped open the door for Adams, who finished the regular season in his rookie year with 120 carries for 511 yards (4.3 yards per rush) and three touchdowns in the 14 games he played. He was picked up this year by the New York Jets and was on the practice squad before getting activated on Nov. 15. He appeared in three games, carrying eight times for 12 yards.
As a rookie, St. Brown appeared in 12 games, grabbing 21 passes for 328 yards (15.6 yards per catch) and no touchdowns. This year he was placed on injured reserve on Aug. 31 and did not play.
Julian Love (2019)
The 2018 consensus All-American corner was drafted in the fourth round by the New York Giants and finished his rookie campaign this past weekend with 36 tackles, three passes broken up and an interception. He started in five of the 15 games he played.
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