Handful of Undrafted Notre Dame Players Sign Rookie Contracts

Kyle Rudolph may have gotten all the attention from Notre Dame fans with being the only Irish player drafted during April’s NFL draft, but several Notre Dame players still wanted to continue on of living their dream of playing professional football.

That dream came true for four different former Irish players on Tuesday, the first official day when NFL teams could sign undrafted rookie free agents. (more…)

Tyler Eifert Placed on Mackey Award Watch

Irish tight end Tyler Eifert was one of 34 players named to the Mackey Award preseason watch list in an announcement from the Nassau County Sports on Wednesday. The Mackey Award is given each year to the nation’s top tight end at the yearly ESPN College Football Awards Red Carpet Show at the end of the season. (more…)

Troy Murphy in shamrocks again

Just in time for St. Patrick’s Day and Shamrock Shakes, Troy Murphy is getting back to his Celtic roots. Murphy signed with the Boston Celtics after being placed on waivers by the New Jersey Nets.

For the 6-foot-11, nine-year veteran the move is something of a dream come true. Despite growing up in Jersey, Murphy was always a fan of the Celtics during the Larry Bird years. He claims it is because of the great teams they put together, but you can’t help but imagine it has something to do with the reassurance that a gangly white guy with a pretty serious beak can make waves in the NBA.

The move is good for Troy, who hadn’t been making any waves while riding the pine for the Nets. He played sparingly this season, averaging only 3 points per game, but might prove to be a good role player for Boston during a playoff run. He averaged over 20 points a game at Notre Dame and started in all but one Big East game during his career.

Condra nets first career goals

After a season and a half in the AHL, former Irish hockey captain Erik Condra is taking advantage of his first shot in the NHL. Condra was called up by the Ottawa Senators on Feb. 19 for their game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. In his debut, the 2009 ND grad faced off against Irish teammate and partner-in-crime Christian Hanson. Hanson has bounced back and forth between the minors and the Leafs this season.

Condra picked up an assist in that first game and then got his first two goals on Saturday night in a 4-1 win over the first-place Philadelphia Flyers (See the video here). Ottawa is currently in dead last in the Eastern Conference, but that might give Condra the open opportunity to claim his stake in the NHL during the final month of the season.

Irish Combine

From veterans, to rookies to the future. Two Notre Dame players took part in the NFL combine in the past week as they prepare for the upcoming draft. Nose guard Ian Williams who was a run-stopping force in both the 3-4 and 4-3 defense at Notre Dame, performed about as well as he was expected to. Williams finished sixth among defensive lineman by bench pressing 225 pounds 31 times. He had a meeting with the Dallas Cowboys that apparently went well. The major question surrounding Williams is how well his knee will hold up after missing the last four games of the regular season with an injury. He is projected to go in the fourth round right now.

A fellow member of the four wounded horsemen from last season, Armando Allen also worked out for scouts at the combine this week. Allen, who had season-ending hip surgery in November, repped out 23 on the bench. He decided to wait until Notre Dame’s pro day on April 7 to run the rest of his drills.

Pro Day will also feature a third wounded Horsemen (only Dayne Crist stuck around) in Kyle Rudolph. Rudolph has been training hard since the Sun Bowl to get himself back into shape after having his own season-ending surgery. Rudolph said he was confident he would be ready to go in April.

Run, run Rudolph

Irish junior Kyle Rudolph made it official Wednesday morning. The tight end will pass up his final year of college eligibility and declare for the NFL Draft.

Rudolph leaves Notre Dame with the fourth-most receptions and receiving yards of any Irish tight end. In only 29 career game, he racked up 90 receptions for 1,032 yards and eight touchdowns. Rudolph will most likely fall at least in the top three tight end prospects in this year draft along with Arkansas’ D.J. Williams and Wisconsin’s Lance Kendricks, both of whom are seniors.

The 6-foot-6, 265 pounder suffered a season-ending injury earlier this year and many believed that Rudolph would return because of the long rehab process after getting his hamstring surgically re-attached to the bone. However, Rudolph appears to be ahead of schedule – he spent last week in El Paso running in sweats during Notre Dame’s practice and had no noticeable limp while doing so.

Rudolph will certainly be missed in the Irish offense, but sophomore Tyler Eifert has stepped in well during the second half of the season and will continue the long line of excellent tight ends in South Bend. In a statement released by Notre Dame’s sports information office, Rudolph said it was a tough decision to leave especially given the direction of the program.

“This team is about to take Notre Dame back to the top and while I won’t be around to help you do that, I’ll be watching and cheering every game next year,” he said. To read his full statement and a comment from Irish coach Brian Kelly click the “More” tab… (more…)

Kyle Rudolph done for the season

Irish tight end Kyle Rudolph found out on Monday that his 2010 football season was finished.

Rudolph was noticeably slower and less explosive during last Saturday’s 23-17 victory over Pitt and head coach Brian Kelly discussed the possibility of sitting out his starting tight end for a week or two so he could fully recover. On Monday morning, the first MRI on Rudolph’s leg that had bugged him since preseason practice revealed that his hamstring had pulled away from the bone.

“He’s a courageous kid and he tried to fight through it, and unfortunately it’s led to him being sidelined for the season,” Kelly said in his regular Tuesday press conference. “I thought he was in great hands with out doctors, it was a daily conversation we had with Kyle.”

Rudolph puts the full blame of the injury on himself, telling the Elkhart Truth’s Ben Ford that it was his decision to push as hard as he did. Rudolph pushing hard brings up images of Rudolph chugging 95 yards to pay dirt in a late, crucial touchdown in the Michigan game earlier this year. While it doesn’t seem like that they injury had occured at that point, the big tight end admitted to the Chicago Tribune’s Brian Hamilton that he was thinking about his hampered hamstring during the run.

Doctors told the 6-foot-6, 265 pounder that the surgery to reattach his hamstring wasn’t complicated, but they needed to get it done as quickly as possible. Rudolph said he and his family have yet to figure out where and when he would go under the knife as of Tuesday afternoon. He said he was surprised to learn about the season-ending injury, claiming that the pain after Saturday’s game just felt like the same old nagging injury.

The injury might become a blessing in disguise for Notre Dame, who likely will keep the junior tight end for another season. Rudolph began the year as ESPN’s top-rated NFL prospect at tight end and has only slipped slightly throughout the season. The six-month recovery period after surgery would mean that Rudolph would have to be in a big hurry to prove his leg’s strength during the NFL combines in the Spring. Rudolph said he hadn’t even had a chance to think that far in the future, but it seems like he would benefit much more from what would likely be a more productive senior season with a more experience Dayne Crist getting him the ball.

Kelly said senior Mike Ragone and sophomores Tyler Eifert and Jake Golic will fill in for Rudolph for the rest of the season with Ragone and Eifert getting the majority of the snaps.

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