Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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38 APRIL 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED and Garick Noisette (Bertha's brother) became his legal guardians. The question, posed by NFL Net- work reporter Stacey Dales, was, "What would it mean to your mom for you to be here right now?" Estimé smiled brighter than he had all morning, and he smiles a lot. His thoughtful response invoked feelings not of sadness from living without his mother, but of happiness knowing how she'd feel about who he's become. "I know she's looking down on me, smiling," Estimé said. "All the hard work I put in, she laid the foundation. … She was very sick, going in and out of the hospital, but at times, me and my brother [Khadar] couldn't even tell. That's how well she was covering it. Her work ethic, honestly, is I feel like what rubbed off on me the most. "She's very proud of me, and I just got to keep on making her proud." CAM HART SHOOTS UP DRAFT BOARDS AFTER IMPRESSIVE SENIOR BOWL AND NFL COMBINE At the NFL Scouting Combine, Notre Dame cornerback Cam Hart listed off some of the toughest wide receivers he had to guard in college. Ohio State's Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka were the obvious answers. Going back two years, USC's Drake London put up career numbers against the Irish. But he also mentioned Boston College's Zay Flowers and North Carolina's Josh Downs, and that raised some eyebrows. Flowers and Downs, both of whom were drafted in 2023 and had success- ful rookie years, are 5-foot-9 and ex- tremely quick. They're the exact type of receiver who's supposed to give the 6-foot-3, lengthy Hart problems, but they caught 3 passes for 46 yards and 5 passes for 32 yards, respectively. As Hart explained, he isn't just any 6-foot-3 corner. "Shoot, I got feet," Hart said. "My feet are comparable to a 5-9 corner." He showed that at the NFL Combine, where he proved himself as one of the most explosive and athletic (relative to size) cornerbacks in the class. "Just solidify the film," Hart said when asked what he wanted to prove to NFL scouts in Indianapolis. "I feel like I put everything on film. Show that I'm fast, show that I'm quick, that I can do everything. I feel like I'm the most athletic corner in this draft. Just solidify that." Hart came into Notre Dame as a wide receiver. He can run every route, which means he can do what NFL scouts love: run the route for the wide receiver he's going up against. He rarely got thrown at during his best season, which was 2023. "I feel like if I'm guarding somebody, [I can] just put hands on him," Hart said. "Just knowing who you're going against. Film study. Knowing tenden- cies, knowing route recognition, things like that." Because he wasn't targeted much, Hart didn't post the ball production numbers of a top-flight cornerback. His performance at the Senior Bowl in late January, though, reminded teams that he's perfectly capable of knocking down and picking off passes. That was something Hart wanted to focus on in Mobile, Ala. Hart thought his performance there showed teams that his tape can translate to the NFL level. "Just honestly went into the Senior Bowl to show what I can do," Hart said. "I've been doing that for three years now. I do it every day in practice. I al- ready knew I could do it. It was just a matter of showing it at that point. I didn't go into the Senior Bowl with any crazy expectation. It was just do what I do and do it well." Hart's trip to Mobile is already pay- ing dividends for his draft stock. Senior Bowl executive director Jim Nagy posted on social media March 10 that momen- tum for Hart has been "quietly build- ing" since the Senior Bowl. When asked what he's most proud of accomplishing at Notre Dame, though, Hart's answer had nothing to do with locking down wide receivers or becom- ing an NFL prospect. "Most proud? Becoming a captain at Notre Dame," Hart said. "That's a great honor. It's player voted. Having those guys trust me and being a spokesman for them was a great honor." ✦ Cornerback Cam Hart clocked the fastest 40-yard dash time (4.5 seconds) of any of the Irish players at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis. PHOTO BY LARRY BLANKENSHIP