Few brands in college sports are as iconic as Notre Dame football. Because of that, the expectations are high — setting the scene for grandiose gridiron heroism or soul-crushing disappointment.
It’s South Bend’s lure to recruits figuring out whether or not they want that level of challenge in their collegiate careers.
Recruits must know, though, thriving on the Fighting Irish and failing to match that production in the NFL is a worst-case scenario that will play out in front of a national audience. It’s one of the few pitfalls of having an exclusive TV deal with NBC.
Here are the biggest 10 Notre Dame football NFL draft busts of all time
No. 10 biggest Notre Dame football NFL Draft bust of all time: Ken MacAfee
1978 NFL Draft: Round 1, Pick 7
San Francisco 49ers, 1978-1979
Ken MacAfee grew up in the suburbs of Boston and dominated at the high school level at Brockton High School, winning two consecutive state titles in his junior and senior years. MacAfee then thrived in South Bend, amassing 128 receptions for 1,759 yards and 15 TDs over his four-year career as a receiver and tight end.
While the switch to the tight end position did wonders for MacAfee’s college career, another position switch undid his NFL career. Then-49ers coach Bill Walsh switched him to the offensive line following his second pro season in 1979, and instead of sticking with San Francisco, MacAfee left the sport altogether.
While it wasn’t fully his fault, MacAfee’s disappointing end to his career ultimately made him a draft bust considering his selection with the No. 7 draft pick in 1978.
No. 9 biggest Notre Dame football NFL Draft bust of all time: Jim Seymour
1969 NFL Draft: Round 1, Pick 10
Los Angeles Rams, 1969 (Did not play)
Chicago Bears, 1970-1972
Jim Seymour’s obituary in the New York Times following his passing in 2011 tells the story of how the receiver will be remembered.
“Seymour played three years for the Chicago Bears in the National Football League, but he made his name as an athlete in college,” the NYT’s Bruce Weber prefaced before saying, “At 6 feet 4 inches, weighing more than 200 pounds and able to run 100 yards in less than 10 seconds, he was bigger and faster than virtually any other college receiver at the time, a physical type who set a standard for the position long before the likes of Keyshawn Johnson, Randy Moss and Terrell Owens ever caught a pass.”
Seymour caught just 21 passes and five touchdown throws during his NFL career in Chicago despite being a 3x All-American wideout while in South Bend. Seymour’s time with the Fighting Irish will forever be what defines his greatness.
No. 8 biggest Notre Dame football NFL Draft bust of all time: Vagas Ferguson
1980 NFL Draft: Round 1, Pick 25
New England Patriots, 1980-1982
Cleveland Browns, 1983
Houston Oilers, 1983
A particularly poignant lede in Vagas Ferguson’s write-up in Bleacher Report contributor Erik Frenz’s list of the seven biggest NFL draft busts in New England Patriots history paints a bleak picture of the former Fighting Irish running back’s impact at the NFL level.
“Finding information on Ferguson beyond his days with Notre Dame was difficult,” Frenz prefaced before saying, “Perhaps that’s a testament to how little of an impact he had in the NFL. If not, perhaps just three years in the league will paint the picture for you.”
Ferguson was on the Patriots for three seasons, but he was truly only a relevant rotational back in two of them. During his first two years, he amassed 1,158 yards and five touchdowns, but he received one carry in 1982 and never got a single handoff on either the Cleveland Browns or Houston Oilers in 1983.
No. 7 biggest Notre Dame football NFL Draft bust of all time: Joe Heap
1955 NFL Draft: Round 1, Pick 8
New York Giants, 1955
Going way back to the days of non-color television and photography, we have Joe Heap — a man who had an impeccable career in South Bend but whose NFL career was more forgettable than the reason he left (to serve his country).
Per BlueandGold.com, Heap was one of two Fighting Irish players to eclipse 1,000 rushing yards (1,447 with 14 touchdowns) and 1,000 receiving yards (1,137 with two scores) during a three-year varsity career and saw all three of his Irish teams finish no lower than No. 4 in the final AP poll. With such a distinguished collegiate career, one would think he would go on to dominate in the NFL.
Instead, Heap had eight carries for 29 yards, a fumble, and 7.9 yards per return on special teams before leaving the NFL for good. Of course, it was for a good cause, but doing so little in the NFL undoubtedly makes Heap a Notre Dame football draft bust.
No. 6 biggest Notre Dame football NFL Draft bust of all time: Michael Floyd
2012 NFL Draft: Round 1, Pick 13
Arizona Cardinals, 2012-2016
New England Patriots, 2016
Minnesota Vikings, 2017
New Orleans Saints, 2018 (Did not make team)
Washington Redskins 2018
Baltimore Ravens, 2019 (Did not make team)
Michael Floyd was not bad by any stretch during his six-year career in the NFL, but after being taken in the first round of the draft, much more was expected out of the six-foot-three St. Paul native.
A big problem with Floyd was his two DUI arrests in 2016 and 2017. While he was by no means a star on the Cardinals, Floyd was a definitive NFL player. After the arrests, he was barely relevant in the league anymore.
Floyd’s Fighting Irish teammate TJ Jones refused to credit his downfall to alcohol.
“No, not at all. Not one bit. Still don’t to this day,” Jones said when asked (h/t ESPN). “I think sometimes it’s just bad luck, sometimes it’s just luck of the draw, being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Again, no one’s perfect. It’s, I would say, the way he’s taken it to bounce back, to not let it really be something that’s a career-ender, more as a stepping-stone and a building block for how to carry on the next, if he plays another seven years, now, how to carry and be more aware of what could possibly happen down the road.”
Whether it was or wasn’t, Jones had issues that were never addressed and derailed his NFL career, even if he did win a Super Bowl with the Patriots as a late-season addition in 2016/17.
No. 5 biggest Notre Dame football NFL Draft bust of all time: William Shakespeare
1936 NFL Draft: Round 1, Pick 3
Pittsburgh Pirates (Steelers), 1936
That there was an NFL player named William Shakespeare and many do not know about it is an indictment on the Staten Island-born running back/punter’s — who was a Heisman finalist for Notre Dame football in the first year ever for the award — pro football career.
Steelers.com’s Teresa Varley summed up his short career concisely and wittily. “Now, if you are wondering about Shakespeare’s playing career, keep wondering,” Varley prefaced before saying, “In those days football was not a high-paying endeavor so Shakespeare opted for a business career rather than playing professional football. What might have become of Shakespeare had he chosen football? In the words of the slightly more famous Shakespeare…’To be, or not to be, that is the question…'”
Shakespeare at one point held the program record for passing, rushing, punting, kickoff returns, and scoring. A Notre Dame legend, Shakespeare never brought his legendary name more notoriety in the NFL.
No. 4 biggest Notre Dame football NFL Draft bust of all time: Manti Te’o
2013 NFL Draft: Round 2, Pick 38
San Diego Chargers, 2013-2016
New Orleans Saints, 2017–2019
Chicago Bears, 2020
Manti Te’o was a Heisman finalist in his senior year in South Bend in 2012 whose career at Notre Dame was brilliant. It likely would’ve led to a first-round draft selection, but controversy surrounded Te’o — potentially scaring off NFL general managers who questioned his mental.
Why? Not because Te’o himself did anything morally reprehensible, but he was found to have been catfished by Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, who was posing as a Stanford University student named Lennay Kekua. Te’o had told reporters both his grandmother and girlfriend died, but the latter was a false report that tainted the linebacker’s NFL prospects.
Te’o still had a decent NFL career, but injuries bogged down the 2012 Unanimous All-American to the point where he didn’t match Pro Bowl expectations coming into pro football as a winner of the Maxwell Award, Lott Trophy, Chuck Bednarik Award, Walter Camp Award, Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Butkus Award, and Lombardi Award.
No. 3 biggest Notre Dame football NFL Draft bust of all time: Creighton Miller
1944 NFL Draft: Round 1, Pick 3
Brooklyn Tigers, 1944 (Did not play)
Legendary Notre Dame football coach Frank Leahy once told Creighton Miller that had he been born at a later date than he was, the Cleveland native would’ve been a much wealthier man than he ended up becoming.
““I have often thought that if you had been born 10 or 12 years later, you, with that rarely seen unsurpassed ability would now have an extra million in your account and my coaching record would have been considerably lower,” Leahy wrote.
Miller, who rushed for 161 yards in a 1942 game against Northwestern University, good for the single-game school record that stood for three decades, never ended up playing in the NFL — later becoming a coach and later a legal expert for the NFLPA. That was perhaps where Miller had his greatest impact because it wasn’t for playing at the NFL level.
No. 2 biggest Notre Dame football NFL Draft bust of all time: Angelo Bertelli
1944 NFL Draft: Round 1, Pick 1
Los Angeles Dons, 1946
Chicago Rockets, 1947-1948
One of the many great college football players in the 1940s who enlisted to fight for his country, Angelo Bertelli didn’t begin his pro football career until two years after being drafted by the Los Angeles Dons. Getting to the game late cost Bertelli, who seemingly lost all his momentum from his days in South Bend leading the Fighting Irish to the 1943 National Championship.
Bertelli won that year’s Heisman trophy, not to mention the Sporting News Player of the Year as well, but the time away from the gridiron led to him having double the number of interceptions (14) as touchdown passes (seven) in his rookie season in 1946.
With the Chicago Rockets, Bertelli completed just nine of his 39 pass attempts, proving essentially unplayable. The fall from grace for Bertelli was notable, but so were the reasons why — ultimately making him an NFL draft bust but a proud patriot as well.
No. 1 biggest Notre Dame football NFL Draft bust of all time: Brady Quinn
2007 NFL Draft: Round 1, Pick 22
Cleveland Browns, 2007–2009
Denver Broncos, 2010–2011
Kansas City Chiefs, 2012
Seattle Seahawks, 2013 (Did not make team)
New York Jets, 2013
St. Louis Rams, 2013
Miami Dolphins, 2014 (Did not make team)
It appears that many NFL teams knew that there was at least a possibility that Brady Quinn could become a bust at the pro level after a collegiate senior year in which the Columbus product won the Maxwell Award, Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, and Cingular All-America Player of the Year. Quinn came into the draft injured and didn’t throw at the 2007 NFL Combine, but no one thought he’d fall to No. 22 in the draft.
No matter, though. Quinn ended up in Cleveland, where he felt he was destined to be all along.
“I kept thinking about how I wanted to play for the Browns and it looked like it wouldn’t happen – then it did,” Quinn told Cleveland.com’s Terry Pluto in 2021. “It felt like destiny. It felt like my life had prepared me for this.”
Quinn would go on to lead the Browns to a 3-10 record when given the chance to start for Cleveland, though, and he’d later go 1-7 in 2012 with the Kansas City Chiefs after a two-year stint in Denver as a backup. His career as a QB in the NFL ended up making Phil Savage’s 2007 draft night declaration that Quinn could define the Browns’ turnaround another tragic footnote in the history of Cleveland sports.