Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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WHERE HAVE YOU GONE? The two-time All-American has tackled other aspects of life BY LOU SOMOGYI I n Notre Dame's illustrious football history, it seems unfathomable that it has had only one linebacker drafted by the NFL in the first round. Many luminaries were taken in the second — Myron Pottios (1961), Jim Lynch (1967), Greg Collins (1975), Bob Golic (1979), Demetrius DuBose (1993), Courtney Watson (2004) and Manti Te'o (2013) — but all-time Fighting Irish tackles leader, two-time consen- sus All-American and two-time cap- tain Bob Crable, who was the No. 23 overall pick of the 1982 NFL Draft, is the lone first rounder. Crable expects to be joined in that club by Irish junior Jaylon Smith, who is projected to be a unanimous first- round selection in 2016. Had the Cin- cinnati Archbishop Moeller product Crable been afforded the choice to be a top pick after his junior season in 1980, he admits it would have been difficult to resist. "I may have been gone," Crable said. "Ever since I was a kid, the only thing I ever wanted to do was play football. There were a lot of schools that recruited me that talked about redshirting and playing five years, and for me that was a turn-off. With the academic structure they provided at Notre Dame, that was very attractive to me to get out in four years." Nicknamed the "Moeller Mauler" for his unbridled ferocity and bone- rattling hits, Crable spearheaded one of the most dominant defensive units in school history during head coach Dan Devine's final season in 1980. Against a vaunted schedule, the Irish set a school record that still stands by not allowing a touchdown in 23 con- secutive quarters, highlighted by a 7-0 win versus two-time defending na- tional champion Alabama for the right to play No. 1 Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. Notre Dame then limited the Bull- dogs to 127 yards of total offense, but costly Irish turnovers at its one- and 22-yard lines led to two short Georgia touchdown marches in its 17-10 vic- tory. "Growing up, I had a terrible, ter- rible temper when it came to losing," Crable said. "I hated to lose so badly. My dad, God bless him, used to belt me because I needed to find a way to behave a little bit when things didn't go exactly the way I wanted them to. "As time went on, I was taught to channel it, and the football field was a great place to do that." Crable did not know defeat at Moeller his last three seasons (36-0) with three straight state titles. When Bob Crable, 1978-81 Middle Linebacker