Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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2016 RECRUITING ISSUE dle the position again as a fifth-year senior in 2016. Shannon is the third. At the turn of this century, the Irish had relied on walk-ons such as John Crowther, Casey Dunn and J.J. Jansen — who started for the NFC champion Carolina Panthers and had inked a four-year, $3,605,000 contract. Shannon has been plying his trade since the seventh grade, and Loyola Academy head coach John Holecek, an NFL linebacker from 1995-2002, be- lieves a future financial windfall could also occur with Shannon. "Even watching the NFL games now, John is as fast and proficient as it gets with snapping," Holecek said. "It's almost robotic. He has good feet and size, and played at linebacker. I see him making tackles, too, not just standing by like a statue." His grandfather, Dan Shannon, was a co-captain of the 9-1 Notre Dame team in 1954, and his thundering hit on Oklahoma's Larry Grigg on a kick- off that forced a fumble and set up the Irish winning score in 1952 is one of the program's more famous plays on special teams. With his father, Gerard, also a Notre Dame graduate, Shannon admits his decision was "a no-brainer." "It's like another home to me," said Shannon, who recalls the epic 2005 battle with No. 1 USC as one of the first games he watched in person. "My grandfather was very emotional about it because it meant a lot to him to have a third generation attend Notre Dame. He was really overjoyed." For Shannon, it went well beyond a snap judgment. ✦