Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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1994. The four were defensive lineman Re- naldo Wynn (1997), offensive tackle Luke Petitgout (1999), center Jeff Faine (2003) and quarterback Brady Quinn (2007). Notre Dame used to be the leader in first- round picks, but has now fallen well behind USC, which has 77 compared to 63 for the Irish. Since 2000, USC has had 17 first-round selections while Notre Dame has had four. Still, 2012 was an upswing for the Fight- ing Irish, which had only 10 Irish players selected in the previous four years (2008- 11). Junior tight end Kyle Rudolph (2011) and safety David Bruton (2009) were the last ND players drafted. FLOYD TO FLY WITH CARDINALS Floyd succeeded in rewriting the Notre Dame record books as well as the final chapter of his Fighting Irish career — one that nearly came to an abrupt end because of a series of poor choices off the field. He's lived, he's learned and now he's a afforded an opportunity at redemption that few Notre Dame athletes who found themselves in similar hot water received. Set to receive his bachelor's degree in soci- ology this May, he made the best of being allowed to remain in school and on the team after being arrested in March 2011 for drunk driving. Despite playing along- side three different starting quarterbacks (Jimmy Clausen, Dayne Crist and Tommy Rees), he finished with 271 receptions for 3,686 yards and 37 touchdowns, earning back-to-back team MVP awards. The St. Paul (Minn.) Cretin-Derham The 6-3, 223-pound wide receiver was Hall product had 100 catches for 1,147 yards and nine touchdowns last season and left the program owning records in career receptions, career receiving yards, touchdown receptions, receiving yards per game average (85.7) and 100-yard receiving games (17). Cardinal after being selected 13th overall by Arizona in the first round of the 2012 NFL Draft. Notre Dame since defensive tackle Young was the seventh overall selection by San Francisco in the 1994 draft. Floyd is the first Notre Dame wide receiver to be taken in the first round of the NFL Draft since Tim Brown in 1988 (sixth overall by Oakland), and his selection marked the earliest an of- fensive player from Notre Dame has been drafted since quarterback Rick Mirer and running back Jerome Bettis were selected with the second and 10th picks, respec- tively, of the 1993 draft by Seattle and the Los Angeles Rams. "I could not be happier for Michael and his family," Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly said. "I've said many times I have never coached a person as talented as Mi- chael, and his selection [in the first round] shows that. Michael's work ethic and pas- sion for football are unparalleled, and fans of the Cardinals will love the productivity he'll bring to Arizona's offense." Floyd became the first wide receiver taken by the Cardinals in the first round since the team selected Larry Fitzgerald with the third overall pick in 2004. He is the first Notre Dame player drafted by the Cardinals in the first round since the team selected quarterback George Izo with the second overall pick in 1960. He is the fifth wide receiver out of Notre Dame to be se- lected in the first round of the NFL Draft, joining Brown, Jim Seymour (10th overall Floyd is the highest-drafted player from JUNE/JULY 2012 35