From Eli Raridon’s historic touchdown to Julian Love’s defensive clinic, South Bend’s finest dominated the professional stage with impact plays across a high-octane opening weekend slate.
With every passing NFL season, we're starting to see more and more former Notre Dame standouts make plays on Sunday, and this week, the Irish were all over the Week 1 NFL slate. It was a very productive opening weekend for Fighting Irish alum and there were some notable performances.
The Wednesday night season opener featured several former Notre Dame players that made impact plays for both the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots. For the Patriots, tight end Eli Raridon caught the first touchdown of the 2026 NFL season on a two-yard corner route in the back of the end zone. On the other side of the field, running back Jadarian Price made his NFL debut and rushed for 52 yards on 11 carries leading the Seahawks offense.
Defensively for the Seahawks, safety and captain Julian Love recorded six tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss and had an interception while defensive tackle Rylie Mills had two tackles and 1.0 tackle for a loss to himself. On Thursday night, the Rams took on the 49ers in Australia. Running back Kyren Williams rushed for 41 yards and 11 attempts and scored the lone touchdown of the night for the Rams. On the opposite sideline, defensive lineman Khalid Kareem recorded two tackles.
This Sunday, we saw several Notre Dame alum make plays. In the 1:00 PM slot, we saw cornerback Benjamin Morrison enter the game due to an injury to the starting field corner. Morrison ended the game with four tackles, 1.0 tackle for a loss and a pass defensed. But Morrison wasn't the only defender from South Bend to have an impact game yesterday.
Safety Thomas Harper for the Detroit Lions recorded three tackles and a pass defensed. Safety Kyle Hamilton for the Baltimore Ravens tallied five tackles and one hit on the quarterback. Safety Xavier Watts for the Atlanta Falcons recorded four total tackles in their road loss to the Steelers in Week 1. Cornerback Cam Hart for the Los Angeles Chargers had six total tackles and a pass defensed as well.
The defensive players from Notre Dame had a productive weekend, but some offensive standouts also made a name for themselves in Week 1 of the NFL season. Arizona Cardinals running back Jeremiyah Love rushed for 41 yards on 11 attempts and a rushing touchdown in his NFL debut. Wide receiver Malachi Fields for the Giants got the start tonight in prime time against the Dallas Cowboys and caught two passes for 25 yards in their 28-20 win over the Cowboys.
Tight end Cole Kmet for the Chicago Bears got in on the offensive action in their road matchup with the Carolina Panthers who is home to Mitchell Evans and Tommy Tremble. Kmet caught two passes for 35 yards and a touchdown while Evans and Tremble combined for four catches and 34 receiving yards.
It was a very productive opening weekend for former Fighting Irish standouts and some of these notable standouts like Love, Price, Fields and Morrison are just getting started. There was a lot of promising action in Week 1 for Notre Dame alums but it's not over yet. Tonight, you can watch former left tackle Mike McGlinchey, former linebacker Drue Tranquill and former safety Alohi Gilman on Monday Night Football when the Denver Broncos take on the Kansas City Chiefs.
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