Notre Dame almost made it through an entire off-season without too much drama other than the Dexter Williams suspension speculation. That streak came to a crashing halt on Thursday as word of Shaun Crawford tearing his ACL spread. Notre Dame’s playmaking nickel corner was lost for the year. The news was a devastating blow to both Crawford and the Irish defense. How the Irish replace their spark plug corner could end up being a group effort.
First off, the new of Crawford’s injury is gut wrenching on an individual level for Shaun Crawford. This is his third major injury in four years – two ACL tears (one in each knee) and a ruptured Achilles – have robbed Crawford of a promising career.