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What they're saying: Mackey Award snubs Notre Dame TE Michael Mayer, Georgia's Brock Bowers wins

IMG_9992by:Tyler Horka•12/08/22•

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notre dame michael mayer
Notre Dame tight end Michael Mayer. (Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

Notre Dame could have been one four schools to have multiple players win the John Mackey Award, given annually to college football’s most outstanding tight end. Fighting Irish junior Michael Mayer was worthy of taking home the hardware Thursday night during the 32nd annual College Football Awards.

Georgia’s Brock Bowers took it home instead.

Bowers caught 52 passes for 726 yards and 6 touchdowns in 13 games. Mayer caught 67 passes for 809 yards and 9 touchdowns in 12 games. Mayer was also the No. 1 graded tight end in the country per Pro Football Focus with a grade of 92.5. Bowers was 7th. Mayer’s run-blocking grade of 82.1 was much better than Bowers’ mark of 72.7. Bowers’ teammate, Darnell Washington, actually had a better overall PFF grade (86.4) than that of Bowers himself (84.9).

Mayer would have joined Tyler Eifert (2012) as the only Notre Dame players to win the award since its inception in 2000. Arkansas, Florida and Iowa remain the only schools with multiple winners, each program claiming two apiece.

Mayer announced Wednesday his decision to opt out of the upcoming Gator Bowl vs. South Carolina to enter the 2023 NFL Draft. He’s viewed by every major draft analyst as the No. 1 overall tight end in the class. He’s projected to be a first-round selection. Winning the Mackey would have been Mayer’s last act for the Blue and Gold. He’ll head to the next level without the trophy instead.

Eifert was the last Notre Dame tight end to get selected in the first round of the NFL Draft in 2013. The Irish have had five tight ends picked in the first round in program history; Ken MacAfee (1981), Tony Hunter (1983), Derek Brown (1992) and Irv Smith (1993) are the others. Mayer blew by all of them in the Notre Dame record book. He finished his career with 180 receptions, 2,099 receiving yards and 18 touchdowns, all of which are program records.

Here’s the social media reaction to Mayer not winning the Mackey.

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What they’re saying about Notre Dame TE Michael Mayer not winning the Mackey Award

One of the greatest quarterbacks in Irish history did not approve of the result.

Current Irish running back Logan Diggs, tight end Mitchell Evans and former Irish defensive back Julian Love weren’t having it, either.

Irish fans know this isn’t the first time some suspect voting has occurred in the postseason awards process.

BlueandGold.com’s own Patrick Engel weighs in.

Complete objectivity from one of college football’s best national reporters, Adam Rittenberg of ESPN.

And in an ironic twist of fate, Mayer was awarded Walter Camp First-Team All-America status just over an hour after he was denied the Mackey Award. Bowers landed on the second team.

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