Notre Dame football: Top 5 moments from 2020 season

Shaun Crawford’s Healthy Season

Shaun Crawford has been one of the more inspirational stories for Notre Dame this season. Two torn ACLs, a torn Achilles, and a dislocated elbow have all disrupted his Notre Dame career. In 2020, Crawford was expected to contribute to a Notre Dame secondary, which despite All-American safety Kyle Hamilton roaming centerfield, was considered the biggest weakness on defense.

However, they were able to get a lot of good snaps out of Crawford, which most people didn’t expect. Even if he stayed healthy, due to his injury issues, no one expected much from him at this point in his career. He had 57 tackles, two sacks, one interception, and five pass breakups this past season.

By no means was he elite, but he was a solid performer who could take on most teams’ second or third option with confidence.

Now, Shaun Crawford wasn’t perfect, as elite receivers and speed gave him challenges, but he was everything you want in a player to root for and a teammate. He left everything out on the field and has given everything he can to Notre Dame, as he’s battled back from a laundry list of injuries, which would have ended many careers.