All-American Bowl journal: Notre Dame LB Joshua Burnham talks day three
Throughout the week at the All-American Bowl in San Antonio, Texas, Traverse City (Mich.) Central class of 2022 linebacker and Notre Dame signee Joshua Burnham will share his thoughts and experiences of taking part in the prestigious postseason all-star game.
Below are his thoughts from day three (Wed. Jan 5).
On the morning routine: “We get taped at 7:30, so I set my alarm for 7:00 to get down there a bit earlier so I didn’t have to wait in a big line. We had breakfast at 8:00, all of us Notre Dame guys get there pretty early. For the past couple days, all of us Notre Dame commits eat together. It’s just been a lot of fun. They’re all great guys. Then I went back up to my room to make sure I have everything and go back down to the lobby at about 9:00 and the bus leaves for 9:15 for morning practice.”
On the morning practice Wednesday at Trinity University: “I’m used to being in Traverse City where we have a winter weather advisory right now and two feet of snow. And over here we’re practicing in 70 degrees and I’m getting a tan. Practice has been a lot of fun. Playing football again – there’s not a better feeling. Especially with these guys and the athletes on the field.”
On the joint practice with both teams on the same field: “It was definitely nice having other people to compete with rather than the same guys on our team. We have Notre Dame guys on both teams, so we have some friendly smack talk and messing around.”
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On the set-up of the all-star game: “This entire week is made for the offense. It is what it is. We can’t blitz. We can only run man and cover 3 on first and second downs, and on third and fourth down, it has to be man. We can’t blitz anyone. It’s definitely not ideal, but we’re going to do what we can and go out and have fun.”
Closing thoughts on the experience through three days: “It’s just been great. On Tuesday night, me and Aiden [Gobaira] went out on those little scooters and just cruised around San Antonio. We’ve never been here before, so going out and seeing the sites was sweet.”
RELATED: Notre Dame LB Joshua Burnham recaps first two days
Majority of the Irish’s 2022 class are all-stars
Notre Dame signed 21 recruits during the early signing period, but the Fighting Irish are looking at adding more player(s), whether that be in the high school or transfer portal ranks. Notre Dame even offered Portland (Ore.) Lake Oswego wide receiver Justius Lowe last week and spoke to BlueandGold.com’s Mike Singer about the news.
Of the 21 recruits, 16 of them are playing or have already played in one of the three major postseason all-star games: the All-American Bowl, the Under Armour All-America Game and the Polynesian Bowl.
On Monday, the players set to compete in the premier postseason all-star game arrived in San Antonio, Texas. The All-American Bowl recruits practice Tuesday-Friday ahead of the contest which will air on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET on NBC.
Notre Dame will be well-represented in the game with 10 signees set to participate.
Huber Heights (Ohio) Wayne offensive tackle Aamil Wagner, Chantilly (Va.) High defensive end Aiden Gobaira, Traverse City (Mich.) Central linebacker Joshua Burnham and Lawrenceburg (Ind.) High offensive lineman Ashton Craig are the Fighting Irish signees on the East squad.
Notre Dame will have seven recruits playing on the West team, including Camas (Wash.) Union wide receiver Tobias Merriweather, St. Louis John Burroughs defensive end Tyson Ford, Mission Hills (Calif.) Bishop Alemany linebacker Niuafe Tuihalamaka, Fond du Lac (Wis.) St. Mary’s Springs offensive lineman Billy Schrauth, Grand Rapids (Mich.) Catholic Central linebacker Nolan Ziegler and Indian Trail (N.C.) Metrolina Christian Academy punter Bryce McFerson.
A breakdown with of both squad’s rosters with jersey numbers is listed by On3 here.
Oradell (N.J.) Bergen Catholic quarterback Steve Angeli, Hilton Head (S.C.) High linebacker Jaylen Sneed and Groton (Mass.) Lawrence Academy offensive lineman Ty Chan played in the Under Armour Game on Sunday.
Atlanta Westminster tight end Holden Staes and Phoenix Brophy Prep cornerback Benjamin Morrison are playing in the Polynesian Bowl later this month.
All five of Notre Dame’s offensive line recruits and the four linebacker signees were invited to one of the major postseason all-star games.
Notre Dame’s 2022 recruiting class currently ranks as the No. 6 group in the country per the On3 Consensus. 90% of the class is considered “blue chip” recruits, which is a prospect with a four-star ranking or higher.
Sneed is the highest ranked prospect in the Irish’s class with a ranking of No. 34 nationally. He also ranks as the No. 3 linebacker in America per the On3 Consensus.
