Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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UNDER THE DOME School of Business. Wide receiver DaVaris Daniels also was primed for an NFL career, even more so than former teammate TJ Jones, but academic missteps had him away from the Notre Dame program in the spring of 2014 in addition to last season. Even quarterback Everett Golson might have been a prospect in this year's draft had he not had to sit out 2013 be- cause of an "academic mistake." 3. Waiting It Out At this time last year, there was con- versation that both cornerback KeiVarae Russell and left tackle Ronnie Stanley would be good enough to turn pro after their junior campaigns in 2014 and be selected in the top two rounds (a la Tuitt and Niklas in 2014), if not sooner. Russell also underwent an academic suspension in 2014, but he is expected to be re-admitted for summer school at Notre Dame, which begins June 15. Even though Stanley received a sec- ond-round grade, he still might have been a first-round pick this spring, but opted instead to return for his senior year, like linebacker Manti Te'o and tight end Tyler Eifert did in 2012. Defensive tackle Sheldon Day also contemplated turning pro a year early in 2015, but like Stanley he decided to return. Center and 2014 captain Nick Martin had an outside shot of getting drafted this season, but like his NFL All-Pro brother Zack, another year of season- ing at the collegiate level in year five is expected to be beneficial. When one takes a step back with a more rational perspective, the Irish could have had Tuitt, Niklas, Williams, Lombard, Daniels, Russell, Stanley and Day, and maybe even Martin and Golson, drafted this year. The unpre- dictably of life changed many courses. The trade-off is the 2015 Notre Dame team has the most starters returning on offense and defense (19 out of 22) from its bowl game of any team in the country. That's not even including the expected addition of 26-game starter Russell from 2012-13. That's virtually identical to 1977 — the last time Notre Dame failed to have any player officially selected in the NFL Draft. Even back then, the Irish were actu- ally supposed to have four stalwarts drafted in the first or second round: defensive ends Ross Browner and Wil- lie Fry, cornerback Luther Bradley and running back Al Hunter, who in 1976 became the first Irish player to reach 1,000 yards rushing in a season. The university, however, suspended all four (plus two others) for the 1974 season, so their timetable in the NFL was moved back one year. Unfortu- nately for Hunter, he was dismissed from school prior to the 1977 kickoff, too, so he became the first player ever taken in an NFL supplemental draft later that summer. It was enacted for players who had various circum- stances affect their eligibility and did not enter the main NFL Draft. Regardless, had Browner, Fry and Bradley not returned for a fifth sea- son in 1977, it's unlikely Notre Dame would have won the national title. Similar to this season, the 1977 team