(Photo: National Football Foundation)
Few players have ever worn the gold helmet with more pride — and none made more tackles — than Bob Crable, Notre Dame’s all-time leader in stops and one of the fiercest linebackers ever to play for the Irish.
A two-time consensus All-American and team captain in both 1980 and 1981, Crable defined consistency and toughness for the Fighting Irish. He led Notre Dame in tackles three straight seasons — joining only Manti Te’o (2009–2012) and Bob Olson (1967–1969) in that elite company — and still holds school records for career tackles (521), single-season tackles (187 in 1979) and single-game tackles (26 vs. Clemson in 1979). That 26-tackle performance remains tied for the most ever recorded by a Notre Dame player and among the top single-game totals in NCAA history.
Crable’s résumé reads like a history of hard-nosed Irish defense. As a junior, he anchored a unit that ranked fourth nationally in total defense and fifth in scoring defense, helping Notre Dame rise to No. 1 in the nation midway through the 1980 season. That year ended in a Sugar Bowl matchup with eventual national champion Georgia, where Crable posted ten tackles.
Among his signature moments: a fumble recovery that sparked the Irish’s dramatic “Chicken Soup” Cotton Bowl comeback win over Houston, and a legendary blocked field goal at Michigan in 1979 that preserved a 12-10 Irish victory in Ann Arbor.
A first-round pick of the New York Jets in 1982, Crable became the only Notre Dame linebacker ever taken in the first round of the NFL Draft. He played six seasons in the league before injuries cut his career short, but his leadership and drive carried into life after football.
Back home in Cincinnati, Crable taught and coached at Moeller High School, his alma mater, serving as head coach from 2001 to 2008. He built successful business ventures and founded the Crable Foundation, which provides scholarships for student-athletes attending Catholic schools.
In 2017, Crable was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, becoming the 46th Notre Dame player to earn that honor — more than any other school can claim.
A relentless tackler, respected leader, and true man of faith, Bob Crable remains a living symbol of Notre Dame’s enduring ideals: toughness, humility, and excellence on and off the field.
LInebacker 1978-1981, Bob Crable, another Fighting Irish Preview, All-Time Irish Hero.