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Newsstand: Notre Dame legend Jerome Bettis to enter Cotton Bowl Hall of Fame

IMG_7504by: Jack Soble05/23/25jacksoble56
Jerome bettis
Notre Dame legend Jerome Bettis. (Jerome Miron-Imagn Images)

Notre Dame legend Jerome Bettis will be inducted into the Cotton Bowl Hall of Fame on Friday, the Irish announced Thursday morning.

Bettis, a fullback, scored 3 total touchdowns (2 on the ground, 1 through the air) as the Fighting Irish defeated Texas A&M 28-3 on Jan. 1, 1993. The Irish finished that season, Bettis’ last in a blue-and-gold uniform before embarking on an NFL Hall of Fame career, as the No. 4 team in the country at 10-1-1 under head coach Lou Holtz.

Throughout the game, Bettis rushed for 75 yards on 20 carries. He also caught 1 pass, a 26-yard score, giving him 101 yards from scrimmage throughout the night.

Bettis went on to play 13 years in the NFL, three with the Rams (Los Angeles and St. Louis) and one with the Pittsburgh Steelers. His son, Jerome Bettis Jr., is a freshman wide receiver with the current Fighting Irish.

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Quote of the day

I was very lucky to have personal success here, but we didn’t really win in my era. I think if you go back and look at the record, we were like .500, maybe. Coach [John] MacLeod, if he had gotten to stay, that was kind of the class that got him over the hump and got him going a little bit.

“So I think more than anything, being able to come here, even though it’s not playing, but being able to contribute to winning would be the capstone for me.”

— Notre Dame men’s and women’s basketball general manager Pat Garrity

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