The Return Of Mick Assaf, His Popular YouTube Series "MicksTape"
Chris Finke became one of the most popular former walk-ons in college football when the 5-9 Notre Dame wide receiver made an acrobatic and contested 43-yard touchdown grab against Michigan to open the season in 2018. The score, made in front of a soldout home crowd at night, put the Fighting Irish up 14-0 in the first quarter against the No. 14 Wolverines and they never looked back, winning 24-17.
This is the type of performance that makes a walk-on donning a gold helmet in South Bend — think Reggie Ho and Rudy Ruettiger — a legend.
But with just nine carries for 34 yards in 2019, senior running back Mick Assaf (a former walk-on) has paved a path to notoriety off of the field through the YouTube series Mick's MicksTape.
During the season, the series appeared regularly on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish Youtube channel and featured Assaf as the host interviewing his fellow Notre Dame teammates and asking them off-the-wall questions, from "where were you born" to which "college mascot is considered the most dangerous."
In total, 13 episodes aired throughout the fall in 2019, including the finale where Assaf interviews University of Notre Dame president Rev. John Jenkins and men's basketball chaplain Rev. Pete McCormick.
Assaf asks the well-respected university leaders thought-provoking questions, such as "if Jesus played football, what position do you think he would play?"
Given that Assaf was a senior, there was some concern that the YouTube series would end, but shortly after the Camping World Bowl, he announced on Twitter that he would be returning for another season, but would Mick's MicksTape?
Fighting Irish fans got their answer last week when season two made its debut on Feb. 12.
In the season premiere, Assaf interviews a handful of players, including safety Kyle Hamilton and early entrant defensive end Alexander Ehrensberger.
No official statement was released, but it appears the Fighting Irish faithful will be able to watch and enjoy news episodes of Mick's MickTape throughout the spring and fall of 2020.
While the show became an established series during the 2019 football season, it actually made its debut at the 2018 Cotton Bowl.
"I'm not exactly sure who came up with the idea. Katie [Meyers] asked me to do it one time," Assaf said in December 2019. "The Fighting Irish media team, said, 'do you want to do this and interview people at the Cotton Bowl' because Cotton Bowl media day was a little absurd, so they wanted to bring some more absurdness to it.
"That's when they asked me to go around and interview people, and I just jumped in."
The pilot episode can still be found on Facebook.
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