This list of University of Notre Dame athletes includes graduates, non-graduate former students, and current students of Notre Dame who are notable for their achievements within athletics, sometimes before or after their time at Notre Dame. Other alumni can be found in the

list of University of Notre Dame alumni This list of the University of Notre Dame alumni, includes graduates, non-graduate former students, and current students of Notre Dame and its graduate and professional schools. Since the university's founding in 1842, there have been 162 comme ...

. Although Notre Dame is highly ranked academically, it has also been called a " jock school" as it has produced a large number of athletes. Intercollegiate

sports team A sports team is a group of individuals who play sports (sports player), usually team sports, on the same team. The number of players in the group depends on type of the sports requirements. Historically, sports teams and the people who play ...

s at Notre Dame are called the " Fighting Irish". Notre Dame offers 13 varsity sports for both men and women: Men's American Football, Men's Baseball, Men's and Women's Basketball, Men's and Women's Cross Country, Men's and Women's Fencing, Men's and Women's Golf, Men's Ice Hockey, Men's and Women's Lacrosse, Women's Rowing, Men's and Women's Soccer, Women's Softball, Men's and Women's Swimming and Diving, Men's and Women's Tennis, Men's and Women's Track and Field, and Women's Volleyball. Approximately 400 students have gone on to play professional American football in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

, the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...

, or the

All-America Football Conference The All-America Football Conference (AAFC) was a professional American football league that challenged the established National Football League (NFL) from 1946 to 1949. One of the NFL's most formidable challengers, the AAFC attracted many of the ...

, with many others going to play other sports professionally. Some athletes have also participated in the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

American football

File:JeffAlm.jpg,

Jeff Alm Jeffrey Lawrence Alm (March 31, 1968 – December 14, 1993) was an American football defensive tackle for the Houston Oilers of the National Football League (NFL). He played four seasons with the Oilers until his suicide in 1993. Alm played col ...

File:Jfarragher.jpg,

James Farragher James Francis Farragher (September 10, 1873 – February 22, 1949) was an American football player and coach. He played left tackle at the University of Notre Dame in the early 1900s. He is often identified in official university histories as th ...

File:Mike Golic sunglasses.jpg, Mike Golic File:Bears v Packers 01 (Grant crop).jpg, Ryan Grant File:Jlattner.jpg,

Johnny Lattner John Joseph Lattner (October 24, 1932 – February 12, 2016) was an American football player. While playing college football for the University of Notre Dame, he won the Heisman Trophy in 1953. He also won the Maxwell Award twice, in 1952 and 1 ...

File:Jim Molinaro at Redskins training camp.jpg,

Jim Molinaro James Anthony Molinaro (born April 27, 1981) is a retired American football offensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Washington Redskins in the 2004 NFL Draft in the sixth round with the 180th overall pick. He ...

File:Joe Montana ESPN cropped2.jpg, Joe Montana File:Geoff Price.jpg,

Geoff Price Geoffrey Scott Price (born August 29, 1984) was an American football punter for the University of Notre Dame football team. Price graduated from Heritage High School in Colleyville, Texas, and completed a degree in finance in May 2007. He is ...

File:Brady Quinn at pep rally.jpg, Brady Quinn File:Lsalmon.jpg, Louis J. Salmon File:Joe Theismann.jpg,

Joe Theismann Joseph Robert Theismann (born September 9, 1949) is an American former professional football player, sports commentator, corporate speaker and restaurateur. He rose to fame playing quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) and Canadian ...

File:Darius Walker touchdown Notre Dame at Air Force.jpg, Darius Walker File:102007-JimmyClausen.jpg, Jimmy Clausen File:Jerome Bettis at Health event, May 2005, cropped.jpg, Jerome Bettis *

Nate Silver Nathaniel Read Silver (born January 13, 1978) is an American statistician, writer, and poker player who analyzes baseball (see sabermetrics), basketball, and elections (see psephology). He is the founder and editor-in-chief of ''FiveThirtyEight' ...

, football quarterback

Baseball

Basketball

Bonzie Colson Bonzie Alexander Colson II (born January 12, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for Maccabi Tel Aviv of the Israeli Basketball Premier League and the EuroLeague. He played college basketball for the University of Notre Dame. E ...

(born 1996), player for Maccabi Tel Aviv of the

Israeli Basketball Premier League Ligat HaAl ( he, ליגת העל, lit., ''Supreme League or Premier League''), or the Israeli Basketball Premier League, is the top-tier level league of professional sports, professional competition in Israeli sports club, club basketball, making ...

Ice hockey

Olympians

Nick Itkin Nick Itkin (born October 9, 1999) is an American right-handed foil fencer, two-time NCAA champion, 2022 team Pan American champion, and 2021 team Olympic bronze medalist. He won a bronze medal in individual men's foil at the 2022 senior Worl ...

(born 1999), Olympic bronze medalist fencer, junior world champion, 2x NCAA champion for Notre Dame.

Soccer

Track and field

Other

References

{{Reflist, 3

External links

University of Notre Dame official website

Notre Dame Fighting Irish Athletic website

Notre Dame Fighting Irish athletes, University of Notre Dame athletes Notre Dame athletes

Athletes An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-develo ...