Julian Love unveils his top five Notre Dame football players of all time

There is not a better time to debate subjective sports lists than the dog days of summer. Former Notre Dame defensive back and current Seattle Seahawks safety Julian Love gave us one to dissect on Wednesday.

Sitting down with the hosts of NFL Network’s Good Morning Football, Love revealed his top five Notre Dame football players of all time. First, here are Love’s honorable mention recipients.

Honorable mention

• George Gipp
• Paul Hornung
• Julian Love

“Myself, of course,” Love quipped. “Had to sneak me on there.”

• Todd Lyght
• Quenton Nelson
• Alan Page
• Knute Rockne
• Kyle Rudolph
• Jaylon Smith
• Golden Tate

No. 5: Linebacker Manti Te’o

This may seem like a publicity pick, but it’s actually not that farfetched. In the wake of Te’o’s catfishing scam that was brought back into light via Netflix’s documentary last year, Te’o is remembered more for that story than he is for what he did on the football field — particularly at Notre Dame.

Don’t forget he was the Heisman Trophy runner-up to Texas A&M’s Johnny Manziel in 2012. Te’o had 113 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and 7 interceptions to help lead Notre Dame to the national championship game that year. He had 437 total tackles, 34.0 tackles for loss and 8.5 sacks in his illustrious career.

“This guy is the definition of mental fortitude and strength,” Love said. “He’s battled adversity and is probably one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet.”

No. 4: Running back Jerome Bettis

There is little explanation necessary for Love’s inclusion of “The Bus.”

“How could you not mention him in this?” Love said.

Bettis averaged 5.7 yards per carry in three seasons at Notre Dame. He scored an astounding 33 total touchdowns. All but one of those came over the course of his sophomore and junior seasons. Thirty-two touchdowns in two seasons is elite status.

No. 3: Running back / wide receiver Rocket Ismail

Ismail was a human highlight reel. He finished his career with 202 touches from scrimmage for 2,580 yards and nine touchdowns. Every time he touched the ball, he averaged more than a first down — 12.8 yards, to be exact. He also had five kick return touchdowns and one punt return TD.

The defintion of a skill position game-wrecker.

“This guy was electric for Notre Dame,” Love said. “He’s one of my favorite highlight tapes to watch. He was ahead of his time for what the game of football was at this point. If he played nowadays, his stats would be unreal. He was deemed the fastest player in college football. He was deemed the most explosive player in college football. That was all under an old-school offensive scheme.”

No. 2: Quarterback Joe Montana

Montana’s NFL success certainly adds to his popularity as a Notre Dame alum. He only attempted 515 passes in his entire college career and had 25 touchdowns and 25 interceptions. He quarterbacked the Irish to one of the program’s biggest single-game victories of all time, though, in the 1979 Cotton Bowl — otherwise known as “The Chicken Soup Game.” Montana battled the flu but still led Notre Dame to 23 unanswered fourth-quarter points in a 35-34 win over Houston.

Montana was the starter on the 1977 Notre Dame national championship team.

“How could you talk about Notre Dame without mentioning ‘Joe Cool’?” Love said. “This guy is synonymous with the Notre Dame football brand. He’s a stud in all he does.”

No. 1: Wide receiver Tim Brown

Brown is the last Notre Dame player to win the Heisman Trophy when he did so in 1987, and he was the first wide receiver to ever win the award as well. Brown had 39 catches for 846 yards and 3 touchdowns in addition to 144 rushing yards and another score on the ground in 1987 to finish his career with 235 touches from scrimmage for 2,935 yards and 16 touchdowns. He also had 3 kick return touchdowns and 3 punt return touchdowns, the latter of which all came in his Heisman season.

“He left the year before they won the national championship, but he built that program to what it what,” Love said.