Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/145833
Top Five Male Athletes 1. Manti Te'o (Football) — The winter's shenanigans aside, Te'o graduated as college football's most-decorated player of all time. He won an unprecedented six national awards and finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting. Te'o made more tackles (113) and intercepted more passes (seven) than any other Irish player as the leader of the nation's No. 2 scoring defense. 2. Tyler Eifert (Football) — The Mackey Award winner (nation's top tight end) made his own run through the Irish record books last fall. He leaves as the most prolific tight end in the history of Tight End U. He caught 50 passes for 685 yards and four touchdowns as a senior and was drafted 21st overall by the Cincinnati Bengals. 3. Ryan Finley (Soccer) — Finley scored 21 of Notre Dame's 52 goals in a season in which the Irish claimed the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The next highest scoring member of the team had six goals. Finley earned his second All-America nod this season and was a finalist for the MAC Hermann Trophy (nation's top player). 4. Eric Jagielo (Baseball) — The 2013 Big East Player of The Year became the program's fifth-highest draft pick in June when he was taken 26th overall by the New York Yankees. Jagielo led the conference in slugging percentage (.633) and on-base percentage (.500) as a senior, while finishing second in batting average (.388) and home runs (nine). 5. Anders Lee (Hockey) — Lee averaged nearly a point per game for the Irish in his junior season. He scored 20 goals and tallied 18 assists, totals that put him first and tied for second on the team, respectively. The captain was the team's MVP and a second-team AllAmerican before leaving school to start his career with the New York Islanders. Irish with questions at quarterback for the third year in a row. Kelly quickly named veteran Tommy Rees his starter in June. The senior with a 14-4 career record as the starter played well in relief in 2012, but has yet to prove he can produce weekly when opponents aren't game-planning for the more mobile Golson. Golson said in a prepared statement in late May that he would do what it takes to return to South Bend. "At this point, I understand how my integrity could be in question, but I want to reassure my supporters that through this experience I will return a better student-athlete as well as a better individual," he said. He affirmed during a television interview at a charity basketball event in his hometown a month later that he still intended to return to the Irish next spring. A late addition to this list, the impact of Golson's absence won't actually be felt or known until the upcoming year gets underway. 5. Stood Up The football team's unquestioned strength last fall was its defensive front. When the Irish needed help the most, that group often came through with a big play. It's biggest of the year came in the mud and rain to seal an overtime win against visiting Stanford. The Cardinal and its vaunted power rushing attack had two tries from inside the 1-yard line to tie the score, but senior running back Stepfan Taylor was stuffed on both attempts. The fourth-down stop was