Ranking every Notre Dame football first-round draft pick of the last 25 years
29. player. 60. . S. Minnesota Vikings. Harrison Smith
No. 2 Notre Dame football first-round draft pick of the last 25 years: Harrison Smith
2012 NFL Draft: Round 1, Pick 29
Minnesota Vikings, 2012–present
For over the past decade-plus, safety Harrison Smith has been a high-value staple of the Minnesota Vikings’ secondary, racking up six Pro Bowl nominations and two All-Pro nominations in his celebrated NFL career.
Sticking with one team at Smith’s position isn’t common, and he even thought about leaving the Twin Cities over this past offseason. “I thought about (leaving the Vikings) for sure,” Smith prefaced before saying, “It’s human nature. I think about other things and other places. So, yeah.”
Ultimately, though, Smith took a pay cut from $14.7 million to $8 million with $2 million in incentives to stay in Minnesota. The Knoxville Catholic product could well end up being one of the great Fighting Irish defenders at the NFL level in the 21st century — though arguably, he already is.