Four former Notre Dame players named to AP All-Pro teams
Three former Notre Dame athletes made the Associated Press 2023 All-Pro First Team, the AP announced Friday. One more, Rams running back Kyren Williams, made the second team.
And yes, that says former Notre Dame athletes, not football players. One of the former Fighting Irish named the best in the NFL at their position played men’s soccer in South Bend: Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey. Cowboys right guard Zack Martin and Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton also earned first-team All-Pro status.
Martin was named a first-team All-Pro for the seventh time in his career, the second-most of anyone on the 2023 team (Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald has the most with eight). After a brief holdout in August due to a contract dispute, Martin proved he’s still one of the best guards in the league at 33 years old (as of Nov. 20). The holdout earned him a significant pay raise to match that status.
Anchoring a Cowboys offense that led the league with 29.9 points per game, Martin finished the season with a 77.2 Pro Football Focus pass-blocking grade.
Hamilton is a first-time All-Pro in his second season, and he might be one of the best defenders in professional football regardless of position. Baltimore lines him up everywhere and he’s a dangerous player wherever he goes, finishing the season with 4 interceptions, 13 passes defended, 3 sacks and 81 tackles.
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The 2022 first-round pick picked off two passes in the Ravens’ 33-19 win over the 49ers on Dec. 25, establishing Baltimore as the best team in the NFL, at least in the regular season.
Aubrey made 36 of his 38 field-goal attempts as a 28-year-old rookie, going an incredible 10-of-10 from 50-plus yards with a season-long of 60. As has been well-documented, Aubrey was set to become a software engineer after a failed professional soccer career until he and his wife were watching a football game and his wife said, “I think you could do that.” The Cowboys are happy she did.
Williams, a 2022 fifth-round pick, exploded in his second season in Los Angeles. He finished second in the league in rushing yards with 1,114 despite missing 5 games. He led the NFL in yards per game with 95.3 also scored 12 touchdowns and caught 32 passes for 206 yards. Putting it simply, Williams was the engine that made the Rams’ offense go.
All four All-Pros from Notre Dame made the playoffs with their respective teams, and Martin, Aubrey and Williams will play Sunday on Wild Card Weekend.
