Notre Dame Football’s “Mount Rushmore”

In the spirit of President's Day, I bring you NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL'S MOUNT RUSHMORE. (Image via Kelly Bloor).

This should have been a simple task, but for a school that has 11 national titles, 7 Heisman Trophy winners, and a seemingly endless list of "greats," this task is actually quite tricky.

It would be so much easier to have 3 different "Mount Rushmore's" for Notre Dame. One for coaches, one for Heisman winners, and another for other greats.

But… that was not what was asked.

There are 3 obvious choices with Knute Rockne, Frank Leahy, and Ara Parseghian. All 3 have guided Notre Dame to multiple national championships. (I trust that mini-bio's are unnecessary to give further explanation).

The fourth is where we start getting into some tough choices. As you can plainly tell, Moose Krause was my pick. Moose was (and despite being called to heaven over 20 years ago, still is) Mr. Notre Dame. In Jason Kelly's book "Mr. Notre Dame: The Life And Legend of Edward 'Moose' Krause," he writes: "Moose holds an exalted place in Notre Dame history for achievements that cannot be quantified, for a generosity of spirit and strength of character in the face of harrowing challenges.”

I couldn't imagine my version of this Mount Rushmore without him. Sure, many arguments can be made for a different face on this giant rock, but after you put them toe to toe with Moose, those arguments would disappear like the smoke from his cigar.