Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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2003-06), a starter on the 2005-06 BCS teams, although he missed the second half of '05 with an injury. Linebackers Kory Minor (LaVerne, 1995‑98), Eric Patton (Santa Ana, 1969‑71) and John Helwig (Los Angeles, 1948‑50) Four-year starter Minor, the 1994 USA Today Defensive Player of the Year, trails only Ross Browner and Justin Tuck in career tackles for loss. Patton started in the middle for the 1970-71 defenses that played 21 games and held opponents to 11 points or less in 16 of them. He was credited with 164 stops those two seasons. Helwig started at linebacker for the 1949 national champs and the next season as well before playing four years in the NFL. Honorable mention goes to Arnold Ale (Carson, 1988), who stepped in as a freshman starter in the sec- ond half of a national title season. Homesickness led him to transfer to UCLA prior to his sophomore year. Defensive Backs Shane Walton (San Diego, 1999‑2002), Tom MacDonald (Downey, 1961‑63), Terrail Lambert (Oxnard, 2004‑07), Willie Clark (Wheatland, 1990‑93) Walton earned consensus All-America honors in 2002 and was an exceptional leader, including cap- taincy, after walking on from the soccer team, where he received All-Big East mention as a freshman. MacDonald's 15 career interceptions — nine in 1962, the second-most in a season at Notre Dame — are second on the school's chart, behind Luther Bradley's 17. Speedster Clark broke into the starting lineup as a free safety late in his freshman year before moving to tailback and then to corner. He played five years in the NFL. Lambert had a roller-coaster career but was good enough to play for the Oakland Raiders in 2011. Current sophomore Redfield will be ex- pected to make this list in due time. Kicker: Nate Whitaker (San Diego, 2006‑07) — Whitaker was a walk-on kickoff man before transferring to Stanford, where he converted 33 of his 41 field goal attempts. As mentioned, defensive tackle Hardy also could punt, and took over those duties in the epic 1966 game at Michigan State. Kick Returns: George Atkinson III (Stockton, 2011‑13) — His freshman year saw him score on returns against Michigan State and USC. The only other Irish freshman to return two for scores was Raghib "Rocket" Ismail. Punt Returns: Joey Getherall (Hacienda Heights, 1997‑2000) — His 24 returns in 2000 for a BCS team averaged 16.3 yards (eighth in the nation) and included touchdowns against Nebraska and West Virginia. He also snared 74 passes during his career. — Lou Somogyi Shane Walton, who is a San Diego native, starred in soccer before walking on in football and becom- ing an All-American cornerback. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME MEDIA RELATIONS