Notre Dame Football: 15 best quarterbacks in Fighting Irish history
By John Buhler
Rick Mirer was an outstanding high school quarterback in-state in Indiana. Mirer starred for Goshen High School, breaking several of Jeff George’s Indiana high school passing records. He would parlay that into an excellent college career at Notre Dame from 1989 to 1992.
Mirer severed as Tony Rice’s backup as a freshman in 1989. But once the option quarterback exhausted his final year of eligibility, Mirer would take over as the Irish signal-caller as a sophomore in 1990. As a sophomore, Mirer completed 55.0 percent of his passes for 1,824 yards, eight touchdowns and six interceptions. Notre Dame would make it to the Orange Bowl in that 1990 campaign.
Mirer would build off that stellar sophomore season with a record-setting junior year for the Golden Domers in 1991. He completed 56.4 percent of his passes for 2,117 yards, 18 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Those 18 touchdown strikes would be the most in a season for a Notre Dame quarterback up to that point. He was named team Co-MVP alongside future Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Jerome Bettis. Notre Dame would reach the Sugar Bowl that January.
After quarterbacking his team to two marquee bowl games in his first two years as a starter, Mirer turned heads as an elite NFL Draft prospect in his senior season of 1992. Mirer completed 51.3 percent of his passes for 1,876 yards, 15 touchdowns and six interceptions. Notre Dame would play in the Cotton Bowl Classic in what was Mirer’s last college football game.
Mirer would be taken with the No. 2 overall pick in the 1993 NFL Draft by the Seattle Seahawks. Though he would play in the league for 12 seasons, Mirer never became the franchise quarterback the Seahawks coveted. He bounced around to six other NFL franchises after leaving Seattle in 1994, retiring as a member of the 2004 Detroit Lions.
In four years with the Irish, Mirer completed 54.0 percent of his passes for 5,997 yards, 41 touchdowns and 23 interceptions. Mirer ranks in the top six of all major passing categories in Notre Dame history. Not being an All-American, a national champion or a Heisman Trophy winner hurts his stock. That being said, being a former No. 2 overall pick in the NFL Draft certainly helps his case for definitely cracking the top 10.