Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/102697
During Notre Dame's 1973 national title campaign, Brown played in seven games as a reserve, threw for 228 yards and three touchdowns, and ran for 134 yards and two scores while averaging 6.1 yards per carry. photo courtesy notre dame media relations The First Time In addition to Cliff Brown's start at quarterback, here were some other groundbreaking moments for Notre Dame black football players: • In 1953 for the 9-0-1 and No. 2 Fighting Irish, tackle Wayne Edmonds became the first to win a monogram, and he and halfback Dick Washington were the first to appear in a game. After backing up firstround picks Art Hunter and Frank Varrichione, Edmonds also became the first full-time starter in 1955. • Halfback Aubrey Lewis was the first to score a touchdown, snaring a 32-yard pass from quarterback Paul Hornung in the third game of the 1955 season during a 14-0 victory at Miami. • The first to receive All-American recognition was guard Dick Arrington, a consensus selection in 1965 while also starting on defense and recording 36 tackles. In addition, Arrington was a star heavyweight wrestler for the Fighting Irish. • Split end and All-American Tom Gatewood was the first to be selected a captain, sharing the 1971 duties with No. 1 NFL pick Walt Patulski. • In 1973, Ara Parseghian hired alumnus Greg Blache — a prominent future NFL defensive coordinator — as the school's first black assistant coach. • In 2002, Tyrone Willingham was hired as the school's first black head coach. — Lou Somogyi