April 26, 2017
Since the National Football League began drafting players in 1936 — starting with the initial draft on February 8, 1936, at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Philadelphia — Notre Dame football players have been selected by NFL teams on 492 occasions. The total rises to 553 selections to the professional ranks when you include the AFL (37) and AAFC (24) drafts.
- Notre Dame’s 492 players drafted is the second-most of any school. USC is tops on the list with 493. Sixty-six Notre Dame players have been selected in the first round of the NFL Draft. Only USC (79) and Ohio State (76) have had more.
- Notre Dame had a school record four players chosen in the first round of the 1946 and 1993 drafts, respectively.
- The Irish have had five players (tied with USC for the most) chosen as the first pick in the entire draft–QB Angelo Bertelli by Boston in 1944, QB Frank Dancewicz by Boston in 1946, E Leon Hart by Detroit in 1950, B Paul Hornung by Green Bay in 1957 and DT Walt Patulski by Buffalo in 1972.
- In 1936, Bill Shakespeare was not only the first Notre Dame player drafted into the NFL but also the program’s inaugural first-round selection (third overall to the Pittsburgh Steelers).
- Among the top-10 schools for all-time NFL Draft picks, Notre Dame and Ohio State are tied for the most first round selections since 2010.
Most Picks by School
Picks | School | No. 1 Picks | First-Rounders | First-Rounders (2010s) |
493 | USC | 5 | 79 | 5 |
492 | Notre Dame | 5 | 66 | 6 |
429 | Ohio State | 3 | 76 | 6 |
378 | Oklahoma | 3 | 43 | 5 |
357 | Nebraska | 3 | 33 | 2 |
351 | Michigan | 2 | 44 | 2 |
343 | Penn State | 2 | 36 | 1 |
338 | Texas | 3 | 43 | 2 |
336 | Tennessee | 2 | 44 | 4 |
327 | Miami, Fla. | 2 | 62 | 3 |
- Six Notre Dame players have been selected in the first round of the NFL Draft since 2012, which ranks as the sixth-most in the FBS over the span. The Irish have an equal amount of first-round picks since 2012 than Oklahoma (one), Michigan (one), Texas (two) and Tennessee (two) combined.
Notre Dame First-Round NFL Draft Picks | |
1995-2011 (17 drafts) | 4 |
2012-2016 (5 drafts) | 6 |
Rank | School | First Round Draft Picks since 2012 |
1. | Alabama | 11 |
2. | Florida State | 7 |
Florida | 7 | |
Ohio State | 7 | |
Texas A&M | 7 | |
6. | Notre Dame | 6 |
- Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly has produced twice as many first-round NFL Draft picks (six) than the three previous Notre Dame head coaches combined (three). In fact, only Ara Parseghian (12), Lou Holtz (12) and Frank Leahy (10) have produced more first-round picks during their entire Irish coaching tenures. Of course, Kelly’s total has come over just six NFL drafts.
Rank | Coach (Tenure) | First Rounders | NFL Drafts |
1. | Lou Holtz (1986-96) | 12 | 11 |
Ara Parsegian (1964-74) | 12 | 11 | |
3. | Frank Leahy (1941-43, 46-53) | 10 | 11 |
4. | Brian Kelly (2010-) | 6 | 6 |
5. | Dan Devine (1975-80) | 5 | 5 |
Terry Brennan (1954-58) | 5 | 5 |
- Notre Dame had four players (Ronnie Stanley, 6; Will Fuller, 21; Jaylon Smith, 34; Nick Martin, 50) selected in the top 50 picks of the NFL draft for the first time since 1993 (Rick Mirer, 2; Jerome Bettis, 10; Tom Carter, 17; Irv Smith, 20; Demetrius DuBose, 34; Reggie Brooks, 45).
- With Stanley, Fuller, Smith and Martin all being selected in the top two rounds of the 2016 NFL Draft, Notre Dame has had 11 players selected in the top two rounds of the draft since 2012.
Rank | School | Top-Two Round Draft Picks since 2012 |
1. | Alabama | 21 |
2. | Florida State | 15 |
3. | Ohio State | 14 |
4. | LSU | 12 |
5. | Notre Dame | 11 |
- Here’s a listing of first-round selections by current NFL teams with the overall pick in parentheses:
Year | Position | Name | Team (Overall Pick) |
1936 | B | Bill Shakespeare | Pittsburgh Pirates (3) |
1944 | QB | Angelo Bertelli | Boston Yanks (1) |
1944 | B | Creighton Miller | Brooklyn Dodgers (3) |
1945 | E | John Yonakor | Philadelphia Eagles (9) |
1945 | B | Frank Szymanski | Detroit Lions (6) |
1946 | QB | Frank Dancewicz | Boston Yanks (1) |
1946 | QB | John Lujack | Chicago Bears (4) |
1946 | T | George Connor | New York Giants (5) |
1946 | B | Emil Sitko | Los Angeles Rams (10) |
1949 | QB | Frank Tripucka | Philadelphia (9) |
1949 | G | Bill Fischer | Chicago Cardinals (10) |
1950 | E | Leon Hart | Detroit Lions (1) |
1951 | QB | Bob Williams | Chicago Bears (2) |
1951 | C | Jerry Groom | Chicago Cardinals (6) |
1954 | T | Art Hunter | Green Bay Packers (3) |
1954 | B | John Lattner | Pittsburgh Steelers (7) |
1954 | B | Neil Worden | Philadelphia Eagles (9) |
1955 | QB | Ralph Guglielmi | Washington Redskins (3) |
1955 | T | Frank Varrichione | Pittsburgh Steelers (6) |
1955 | B | Joe Heap | New York Giants (8) |
1957 | B | Paul Hornung | Green Bay Packers (1) |
1959 | B | Nick Pietrosante | Detroit Lions (6) |
1960 | QB | George Izo | St. Louis Cardinals (2) |
1960 | E | Monty Stickles | San Francisco 49ers (11) |
1965 | WR | Jack Snow | Minnesota Vikings (8) |
1967 | DT | Alan Page | Minnesota Vikings (15) |
1967 | G | Tom Regner | Houston Oilers (23) |
1967 | G | Tom Seiler | New York Jets (12) |
1968 | DE | Kevin Hardy | New Orleans Saints (7) |
1969 | T | George Kunz | Atlanta Falcons (2) |
1969 | E | Jim Seymour | Los Angeles Rams (10) |
1970 | DT | Mike McCoy | Green Bay Packers (2) |
1972 | DE | Walt Patulski | Buffalo Bills (1) |
1972 | DB | Clarence Ellis | Atlanta Falcons (15) |
1972 | DT | Mike Kadish | Miami Dolphins (25) |
1975 | DT | Mike Fanning | Los Angeles Rams (9) |
1976 | DT | Steve Niehaus | Seattle Seahawks (2) |
1978 | TE | Ken MacAfee | San Francisco 49ers (7) |
1978 | DE | Ross Browner | Cincinnati Bengals (8) |
1978 | DB | Luther Bradley | Detroit Lions (11) |
1980 | RB | Vagas Ferguson | New England Patriots (25) |
1982 | LB | Bob Crable | New York Jets (23) |
1983 | TE | Tony Hunter | Buffalo Bills (12) |
1984 | RB | Greg Bell | Buffalo Bills (26) |
1986 | DT | Eric Dorsey | New York Giants (19) |
1988 | WR | Tim Brown | Los Angeles Raiders (6) |
1989 | OT | Andy Heck | Seattle Seahawks (15) |
1991 | CB | Todd Lyght | Los Angeles Rams (5) |
1992 | TE | Derek Brown | New York Giants (14) |
1993 | QB | Rick Mirer | Seattle Seahawks (2) |
1993 | FB | Jerome Bettis | Los Angeles Rams (10) |
1993 | CB | Tom Carter | Washington Redskins (17) |
1993 | TE | Irv Smith | New Orleans Saints (20) |
1994 | DT | Bryant Young | San Francisco 49ers (7) |
1994 | OG | Aaron Taylor | Green Bay Packers (16) |
1994 | FS | Jeff Burris | Buffalo Bills (27) |
1997 | DE | Renaldo Wynn | Jacksonville Jaguars (21) |
1999 | OT | Luke Petitgout | New York Giants (19) |
2003 | C | Jeff Faine | Cleveland Browns (21) |
2007 | QB | Brady Quinn | Cleveland Browns (22) |
2012 | WR | Michael Floyd | Arizona Cardinals (13) |
2012 | S | Harrison Smith | Minnesota Vikings (29) |
2013 | TE | Tyler Eifert | Cincinnati Bengals (21) |
2014 | OL | Zack Martin | Dallas Cowboys (16) |
2016 | OL | Ronnie Stanley | Baltimore Ravens (6) |
2016 | WR | Will Fuller | Houston Texans (21) |
- No school has been more consistent in terms of supplying players to the NFL. Notre Dame has had a player selected in 79 of the 81 NFL Drafts (only misses were in 1937 and 1977*). Oklahoma has also had a player chosen in 79 of 81 NFL Drafts.
- With Texas failing to have a player selected in the 2014 NFL Draft, Notre Dame has the longest streak of at least one player drafted at 78 straight years (when including the NFL supplemental draft).
Most Drafts With Picks (1936-2016, 81 drafts)
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Drafts | School | Drafts with no selections |
79 | Notre Dame | 1937, `77* |
79 | Oklahoma | 1962, ’95 |
76 | USC | 1936, ’37, ’38, ’43, ’46 |
73 | Michigan | 1936, ’37, ’38, ’40, ’47, ’50, ’55, ’61 |
72 | Tennessee | 1937, ’38, ’39, ’48, ’50, ’54, ’63, `15, `16 |
71 | Alabama | 1946, ’47, ’50, ’57, ’58, ’60, ’61, ’70, ’78, ’05 |
69 | Texas | 1936, ’37, ’39, ’40, ’45, ’46, ’54, ’56, ’57, ’58, ’59, `14 |
68 | Florida | 1936, ’37, ’38, ’39, ’41, ’42, ’44, ’46, ’47, ’48, ’49, ’51, ’52 |
68 | Nebraska | 1942, ’43, ’44, ’45, ’46, ’48, ’50, ’52, ’54, ’56, ’58, ’59, ’62 |
66 | Miami, Fla. | 1936, ’37, ’39, ’43, ’44, ’46, ’48, ’49, ’50, ’54, ’55, ’58, ’59, ’61, ’74 |
66 | Penn State | 1936, ’37, ’38, ’39, ’40, ’42, ’44, ’45, ’46, ’48, ’51, ’52, ’53, ’54, ’05 |
* Al Hunter was selected in the 1977 NFL supplemental draft
- Notre Dame became the first school to ever produce three of the first five NFL Draft picks in a single year. In 1946, Frank Dancewicz went No. 1, Johnny Lujack went No. 4 and George Connor went No. 5. Remarkably, Emil Sitko went No. 10.
- In addition to the Irish in ’46, Oklahoma (’10), Michigan State (’67) and USC (’77) each had three top-five selections in a single draft.
- Notre Dame was the first school to ever produce four of the first 10 NFL Draft picks in a single year as well.
- In addition to the Irish in ’46, Michigan State (’67) had four top-10 selections in a single draft.
- Notre Dame and Oklahoma are the only two schools that have ever produced the top pick in consecutive NBA (Austin Carr went No. 1 in 1971) and NFL (Walt Patulski went No. 1 in the 1972) Drafts. Oklahoma had Blake Griffin (NBA) and Sam Bradford (NFL) in 2010.
Irish Drafted by Position
Pos. | Total Number of Pos. | Total First Rounders | Last First-Rounder (Year) | Last Overall (Year) |
OT | 61 | 7 | Ronnie Stanley (2016) | Ronnie Stanley (2016) |
DB | 55 | 6 | Harrison Smith (2012) | KeiVarae Russell (2016) |
OG | 54 | 4 | Zack Martin (2014) | Zack Martin, Chris Watt (2014) |
LB | 54 | 1 | Bob Crable (1982) | Jaylon Smith (2016) |
RB | 38 | 7 | Jerome Bettis (1993) | C.J. Prosise (2016) |
C | 31 | 4 | Jeff Faine (2003) | Nick Martin (2016) |
TE | 28 | 6 | Tyler Eifert (2013) | Ben Koyack (2015) |
DT | 28 | 7 | Bryant Young (1994) | Sheldon Day (2014) |
QB | 21 | 9 | Brady Quinn (2007) | Jimmy Clausen (2010) |
DE | 21 | 4 | Renaldo Wynn (1997) | Stephon Tuitt (2014) |
WR | 21 | 5 | Will Fuller (2016) | Will Fuller (2016) |
FB | 10 | 2 | Nick Pietrosante (1959) | Marc Edwards (1997) |
P | 3 | 0 | None | Hunter Smith (1999) |
K | 1 | 0 | None | Bob Thomas (1974) |
*Back | 38 | 2 | Creighton Miller (1944) | Tom MacDonald (1964) |
*End | 29 | 2 | Leon Hart (1950) | Phil Sheridan (1966) |
*Defunct Positions
Irish Picks by Current NFL Team
Picks | Team | First Rounders |
41 | Bears | Bob Williams (1951), Johnny Lujack (1946) |
35 | Steelers | Frank Varrichione (1955), Johnny Lattner (1954), Bill Shakespeare (1936) |
34 | Redskins | Tom Carter (1993), Ralph Guglielmi (1955) |
30 | Rams | Jerome Bettis (1993), Todd Lyght (1991), Mike Fanning (1975), Jim Seymour (1969), Emil Sitko (1946) |
27 | Eagles | Neil Worden (1954), Frank Tripucka (1949), John Yonakor (1945) |
27 | Cardinals | Michael Floyd (2012), George Izo (1960), Jerry Groom (1951), Bill Fischer (1949) |
26 | Packers | Aaron Taylor (1994), Mike McCoy (1970), Paul Hornung (1957), Art Hunter (1954) |
21 | Giants | Luke Petitgout (1999), Derek Brown (1992), Eric Dorsey (1986), Joe Heap (1955), George Connor (1946) |
20 | 49ers | Bryant Young (1994), Ken MacAfee (1978), Monty Stickles (1960) |
18 | Bills | Jeff Burris (1994), Greg Bell (1984), Tony Hunter (1983), Walt Patulski (1972) |
18 | Lions | Luther Bradley (1978), Nick Pietrosante (1959), Leon Hart (1950), Frank Szymanski (1945) |
17 | Patriots | Vagas Ferguson (1980) |
16 | Chiefs | None |
15 | Browns | Brady Quinn (2007), Jeff Faine (2003) |
14 | Chargers | None |
12 | Colts | None |
11 | Saints | Irv Smith (1993), Kevin Hardy (1968) |
10 | Broncos | None |
10 | Cowboys | Zack Martin (2014) |
10 | Vikings | Harrison Smith (2012), Alan Page (1967), Jack Snow (1965) |
10 | Falcons | Clarence Ellis (1972), George Kunz (1969) |
9 | Bengals | Tyler Eifert (2013), Ross Browner (1978) |
9 | Dolphins | Mike Kadish (1972) |
9 | Seahawks | Rick Mirer (1993), Andy Heck (1989), Steve Niehaus (1976) |
9 | Titans | Tom Regner (1967) |
8 | Raiders | Tim Brown (1988) |
7 | Jets | Bob Crable (1982), Paul Seiler (1967) |
6 | Buccaneers | None |
6 | Ravens | Ronnie Stanley (2016) |
5 | Jaguars | Renaldo Wynn (1997) |
5 | Texans | Will Fuller (2016) |
2 | Panthers | None |
- The Bears franchise has selected the most Notre Dame players (41). The Steelers are next with 35. The Rams (30) and Giants (21) have drafted the most Irish players in the first round with five apiece.
Most Notre Dame Players Selected
16 — 1946 (32 rounds)
15 — 1945 (32 rounds)
13 — 1950 (30 rounds)
11 — 1954 (30 rounds), 1959 (30 rounds), 1969 (15 rounds)
10 — 1944 (32 rounds), 1948 (32 rounds), 1956 (30 rounds), 1975 (12 rounds), 1979 (12 rounds), 1991 (12 rounds), 1994 (seven rounds)
- The most Notre Dame players ever taken in a single draft was 16 in 1946 haul. While the draft included 32 rounds, the 16 Irish players went in the top 20 rounds. Four Notre Dame players went in the top-10 selections (Frank Dancewicz, QB; Johnny Lujack, QB; George Connor, T; Emil Sitko, B)
- The rest of the ’46 draft class included Elmer Angsman (third round), Ed Mieszkowski, (seventh), Pete Berezney (seventh), Bob Skoglund (ninth), Joe Signaigo (10th), George Strohmeyer (13th), Bob Palladino (14th), Fred Rovai (15th), Gasper Urban (17th), Jerry Ford (17th), Bill Heywood (20th) and Frank Ruggerio (20th).
- The NFL Draft went through several reductions in rounds. It became seven rounds in 1994.
- The most Irish players drafted in the Brian Kelly era at Notre Dame is eight (2014).
Most Notre Dame Players Selected in First Round
4 — 1946, 1993
3 — 1954, 1955, 1967, 1972, 1978, 1994
2 — 1944, 1945, 1949, 1951, 1960, 1969, 2012, 2016
1 — 1936, 1950, 1957, 1959, 1965, 1968, 1970, 1975, 1976, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1997, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2013, 2014
Most Notre Dame Players Selected in First Two Rounds
6 — 1993
5 — 1967
4 — 1946, 1954, 1955, 1978, 1990, 1994, 2016
3 — 1949, 1969, 1972, 1980, 1991 , 2014
Most Notre Dame Players Selected in First Three Rounds
7 — 1994
6 — 1967, 1993, 2016
5 — 1946, 1955, 1978, 2014
4 — 1949, 1954, 1972, 1990, 1991, 1997
Most Notre Dame Players Selected in First Seven Rounds
10 — 1994
8 — 1945, 1955, 1972, 1993, 2014
7 — 1946, 1950, 1954, 1967, 1978, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2016
Consecutive Years with First-Rounders
4 — 1967-70, 1991-94
3 — 1944-46, 1949-51, 1982-84, 2012-14
Consecutive Years with Pick in First Three Rounds
18 — 1982-1999
8 — 2001-08
7 — 1964-70
5 — 1972-76, 2010-14
Consecutive Years with Irish Player Drafted (excluding supplemental draft)
39 — 1938-1976
38 — 1978-2016*
* indicates active streak
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