Notre Dame football: The 5 best to play on the offensive line

The key piece of the Notre Dame offensive line in the second half of the 1960s, George Kunz was a dominant offensive tackle for the Irish offensive line. Kunz, at 6’5″ and 257-pounds, had the size of a modern offensive lineman 50 seasons ago.

This showed in his dominance as a blocker. By some accounts, he was the most dominating blocker in the history of Notre Dame football. This came from his physical strength and effort, to go along with that work ethic was excellent athleticism that helped him excel as both a pass and run blocker.

Along with being a dominant talent, Kunz was also incredibly decorated during his time with Notre Dame. He was an All-American during his senior season of 1968. It was during that season that Kunz was also made a captain of the Notre Dame team.

He was also noted for his academic excellence while at Notre Dame, winning the National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete Honoree. Unsurprisingly, he was also made an Academic All-American while playing offensive line at the highest level for Notre Dame.

To go along with his honors on and off the field, Kunz was also a member of the 1966 National Championship team. He had begun the season as the starter but wound up losing the job due to an ACL injury. He came back better than ever in 1967 and helped Ara Parseghian’s Notre Dame team go 8-2 and finish 5th in the AP Poll. The 1968 team would also go on to finish 5th, but with a record of 7-2-1.

The strange thing about George Kunz’s dominance at Notre Dame is that he started out as a tight end. Once Parseghian took a look at his size and skills, that quickly changed. He was moved to tackle and his athleticism helped him to become one of the best ever at the position.

Not a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, or the NFL Hall of Fame for that matter, Kunz has gone underappreciated in the annals of history. However, his legacy should always be secured as one of the greats in the history of Notre Dame football.