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Fighting Irish Football

Author: Warren.. Wong
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Founded in 1887 the Notre Dame Football team is one of the most popular and well respected teams in the NCAA today. Notre Dame is the only team in US history to have won 8 wire (AP or Coaches) national championships, and is the leading Division I-A team in terms of championships won. No one could have imagined that after facing an 8-0 defeat in their first ever game in 1887 the team would rise to such great heights. Notre Dame has produced players like Bryant Young and Lance Legree of the San Francisco 49ers.

Popularly known as the Fighting Irish, the mascot of the Notre Dame Football team is a Leprechaun. Over a period of time the Fighting Irish have made a name for themselves, and are one of the most popular college football teams in the US. Second only to Michigan in terms of overall winning percentage (the Michigan Wolverines have a .745 compared to Notre Dame’s .744) the Fighting Irish are one of the most successful college football teams in US history. The history of college football is usually traced back by the coaches that have run the teams and the first notable coach of the Notre Dame Football team was Knute Rockne.

The influence of Knute Rockne on American Football as a whole is undeniable, not only is he one of the most successful coaches that the Fighting Irish have ever had, he is also one of the most notable sporting personalities of all time. Even a stamp commemorating the life of Knute Rockne was issued some years back. Knute was coach of the Fighting Irish from 1918-1930.

After Knute, the next praise worthy coach is Frank Leahy, Frank is one of the most successful college coaches in US football history, with a win percentage of .864 Leahy has the second highest win percentage for any college football coach till date. Under Leahy the team had a win record of 87 wins to 11 loses, and Leahy was coach of the Fighting Irish for 11 seasons. Leahy’s record would have been even more impressive had it not been for his absence from 1944 to 1945 when he was serving in the US Navy. Leahy was coach of the Fighting Irish for 11 years from 1941 to 1953.

Ara Parseghian has made a place for himself in the history of Notre Dame Football for lifting the “no bowl games” policy that the Fighting Irish followed, it was under Parseghian that the Fighting Irish won the McArthur bowl in 1964 and won two uncontested world championships. Many believe that Parseghian would have gone on to become the greatest college football coach ever had it not been for his untimely retirement in 1974 due to health reasons. Parseghian was coach for 7 years between 1966 and 1973. His record stands at an impressive 95-17-4 with a win percentage of .836, second only to Leahy.

The future of the Notre Dame Football team is bright and every year the team is producing quality athletes that are becoming part of leading Football teams all over America.

Mark Bavaro is just one of the many NFL players to have played for the Notre Dame Football club. Bavaro has played for the New York Giants (1985–1990), Cleveland Browns (1992), and Philadelphia Eagles (1993–1994). Although Bavaro left the fighting Irish with still one season of eligibility left, Bavaro is probably one of the most popular players to have played both in the NFL and the Division I-A league. Bavaro finished his nine NFL seasons with 351 receptions for 4,733 yards and 39 touchdowns. It is largely believed that Bavaro could have been much more successful had it not been for his frequent knee injury problems. Bavaro retired at the age of 31 after playing his last season for the Eagles (he played all 16 games for the Eagles in the 1993 season).