Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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would give us a lot of flexibility. "He was definitely a guy that Brian Kelly felt very, very strongly about." With good reason. Eifert anchored an offense that transitioned from quarterback Tommy Rees and star receiver Michael Floyd, to first-year QB Everett Golson and plenty of inexperience at wide receiver. Lining up at multiple positions over the course of his final season at Notre Dame, Eifert said, pre- pared him for the next level. "They asked me to do a lot of things in the offense this year, and that required me to learn every position on the field," Eifert said at Cincinnati's draft press conference. "Although [Cincinnati is] a new offense, I think I'll be able to pick it up pretty well if I put the time in." Eifert also praised Irish tight end Kyle Rudolph, a second-round pick by Min- Best Of The Rest Among this year's crop of Notre Dame alumni hoping to hear their names called in last month's NFL Draft were center Braxston Cave, offensive guard Mike Golic Jr., wide receiver John Goodman and running back Cierre Wood. The quartet did break into the professional ranks via free agency, with Cave inking a deal with Cleveland, Golic Jr. landing in Pittsburgh, Goodman signing with Cincinnati and Wood reaching an agreement with Houston. Now it's a matter of what they do with their respective opportunities that will ultimately decide how long they'll remain employed at the highest level of the sport. They hope to join a group of other un‑ drafted former Fighting Irish players over the last two decades who had successful careers in the NFL. 1995 — Defensive end Junior Bryant started 43 games for the San Francisco 49ers, where he spent his entire career, from 1995‑2000. He compiled 13.5 career sacks before a neck injury against the St. Louis Rams in 2000 ended his time in the NFL. 2001 — Defensive lineman Lance Legree spent his six-year active career in New York, five years with the Giants and one with the Jets. Starting 21 games from 2001-04 with the Giants, Legree had 105 tackles and four sacks. He spent 2005 with the Jets, where he started four contests and registered 39 stops and a career-high three sacks. Legree rejoined the Giants in 2006 and appeared in two games. 2002 — Running back Tony Fisher signed with the Green Bay Packers, where he spent four seasons as a reserve. Fisher racked up 241 carries for 880 yards and four touchdowns in Green Bay. His final year in St. Louis in 2006 yielded just six carries for nine yards. In his five-year NFL run, he added 139 receptions for 1,059 yards and five scores. Defensive end/linebacker Grant Irons landed in Buffalo for one year, followed by four seasons as an Oakland Raider. He compiled 2.5 sacks and eight tackles as a rookie for the Bills. Irons appeared in just one game with the Raiders in 2003, but started two games and registered 12 tackles and a sack for Oak‑ land in 2004. Over the next two seasons, he appeared in 17 games and tallied nine tackles. 2005 — Running back Ryan Grant agreed to a deal with the New York Giants and spent the year on the practice squad. He sat out the following season (2006) with an arm injury and was traded to Green Bay prior to the 2007 campaign. Grant posted 3,412 rushing yards and 23 touchdowns in the next three years, but an ankle injury in the season opener in 2010 forced him out for the remainder of the year. He bounced back with 559 yards and two scores in 2011 as a co-starter in his final year in Green Bay. Grant signed a free agent deal with the Washington Redskins and appeared in just one game before returning to Green Bay for the remainder of 2012.