Terry Brennan
Brennan is clearly our star back.
He showed that in our most recent win against Ohio State:
Brennan led our team in both rushing and receiving — the sort of thing you certainly don’t see today. He was simply awesome.
And, in real life, he was indeed a star.
I spent some time looking for as much as I could find about Brennan’s life.
His father, Marvin Brennan, apparently attended Notre Dame around 1909 or so, but never played for Notre Dame. Instead, he played for Marquette:
He played in Marquette’s game against Notre Dame in 1910:
In fact — Marvin Brennan scored the only touchdown for Marquette in that 5-5 tie. Remember, of course, that touchdowns were worth 5 points before 1912.
Terry’s older brother Jim was a star with Notre Dame in 1944:
I’m not sure what happened, but Jim didn’t play much for Notre Dame afterwards. The two Brennans never made a backfield conversation, though they were on the same team at the same time.
Brennan was a star straight from his beginnings in 1945. He scored 11 rushing touchdowns for Notre Dame in 1947, and probably would have been a candidate for the Heisman Trophy if his 1948 season weren’t hampered by an injury.
Brennan was also drafted in the professional draft after the 1948 season ended:
However, Terry declined the offer, opting to coach instead:
Brennan was apparently a good coach, as he was made Notre Dame head coach in 1954:
His greatest moment came when he led a 4-2 Notre Dame team to a victory over Oklahoma in 1957:
That win ended Oklahoma’s 47 game winning streak.
It wasn’t enough to help Brennan’s coaching career, however. He was fired after the 1958 season — and that was that.