Notre Dame’s Paul Hornung (5) and USF’s Dick Stanfel (pictured below) are among 38 members of Pro Football’s Hall of Fame who attended Catholic colleges and universities. (UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME)
With a few prominent exceptions, Catholic institutions of higher education are no longer the force they once were in college football.
Which does not mean they are forgotten — certainly not with longtime power (past and present) Notre Dame leading all universities and colleges, Catholic or otherwise, with 13 members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame (one ahead of its intersectional rival, the University of Southern California).
Altogether, 38 members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame (which installed its first inductees in 1963) represent 19 Catholic colleges and universities. The most recent Catholic school additions to the Canton, Ohio-based Hall of Fame were in 2016:
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Among the other honorees, two won Heisman Trophies as collegiate football’s player of the year (Notre Dame’s Paul Hornung and Tim Brown), and three others attended more than one Catholic school: George Connor (Holy Cross and Notre Dame); John (Blood) McNally (St. John’s of Minnesota and Notre Dame) and Art Rooney (Duquesne and Georgetown).
As the 2018 pro football season prepares to open in September, Angelus News offers a look at the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s representatives from Catholic schools, listed alphabetically by college:
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A final note: The Fighting Irish this year are marking 100th anniversary of Knute Rockne’s first of 13 seasons as head coach, during which time he transformed not only the university but college football itself. That will be the subject of a future Angelus News article.
Mike Nelson is the former editor of The Tidings (predecessor of Angelus News).
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