Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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where have you gone? while he's searching for his next project. He tries to avoid revealing his past profession. It's harder to negotiate for a good price when the seller knows you are a Super Bowl champion. The New York Jets drafted Hentrich in 1993 after he finished his four-year career at Notre Dame. He never kicked for the Jets, but signed a deal with the Green Bay Packers a year later. He kicked for four years in Green Bay, including the 1996 season when the Packers beat the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXI. "The best [moment of my career] was standing under the confetti when we won Super Bowl XXXI," he said. "That's obviously a scene that every player wants to be in growing up." He narrowly missed another championship ring three years later while in Tennessee. That year he was on the sideline to watch Titans wide receiver Kevin Dyson fly by him on the famous "Music City Miracle" kickoff return in an AFC wild card game versus Buffalo. Hentrich spent more than a decade with the Titans before retiring in 2009. He ended his career in second place in NFL history with 399 punts downed inside the 20-yard line. That's one out of every three kicks during his 17-year career. At Notre Dame, Hentrich was a three-tool specialist, handling kickoffs, placekicking and punting in all four of his seasons with the Irish. He averaged 44.1 yards per punt, which is the fourth-best average in program history. He's also currently third in the Irish record books with 39 made field goals in his career. Despite a successful Hentrich forged a 17-year NFL career during which he placed 34.7 percent of his punts inside the 20 to rank No. 2 on the league's all-time list. photo courtesy tennessee titans four-year stint and several memorable games from 1989-92, Hentrich said the "defining moment" of his career was a garbage time field goal late in a blowout victory his freshman season. It was Aug. 31, the first game of the then-18-year-old Hentrich's college career. The Illinois native had never played before more than a couple thousands fans, and he expected to be taking in the 80,000 spectators at the Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., from a comfortable spot on the sidelines. Those plans changed when junior Billy Hackett missed an extra point attempt in the first quarter. Despite a 33‑0 lead heading into halftime, Irish head coach Lou Holtz wasn't satisfied with the kicking game and decided to shake things up by giving Hentrich a shot. The next opportunity was a 51yard field goal attempt. Holtz asked the rookie if he could make it and he, of