Former Notre Dame LB Bob Crable to be inducted into College Football Hall of Fame
Notre Dame’s all-time leading tackler is now a Hall of Famer, too.
Bob Crable, a two-time consensus All-American linebacker who starred at Notre Dame from 1978 to 1981, has been named to the National Football Foundation's College Football Hall of Fame Class of 2017.
Crable is the 46th former Irish player to earn admission into the College Football Hall of Fame and the first since Thom Gatewood was inducted in 2015. Notre Dame boasts more Hall of Famers than any other school in the country.
A Cincinnati native, Crable will be inducted alongside nine other players and three coaches: San Diego State running back Marshall Faulk, Michigan State wide receiver Kirk Gibson, USC quarterback Matt Leinart, Tennessee quarterback Peyton Manning, Texas offensive tackle Bob McKay, Texas A&M linebacker Dat Nguyen, Georgia Southern running back Adrian Peterson, Boston College nose guard Mike Ruth, New Mexico defensive back Brian Urlacher and coaches Danny Ford, Larry Kehries and Steve Spurrier.
Crable will be inducted with the rest of the 2017 class on Dec. 5 at the 60th NFF Annual Awards Dinner in New York City. He will also be honored during an on-campus salute at a Notre Dame home football game in 2017.
A two-time Notre Dame captain, Crable led the Irish in tackles in three consecutive seasons: 1979 (187), 1980 (154) and 1981 (167). Crable’s 187 tackles in 1979 remain the most in a single season in program history, while his 167 in 1981 rank second on that list. He’s one of three players (with Manti Te’o and Bob Olson being the others) to lead the Irish in tackles in three consecutive campaigns.
Crable also holds the Notre Dame record for career tackles with 521, and his 26 tackles against Clemson in 1979 is tied for the single-game school record. He had five career games with at least 20 tackles.
The 6-foot-3, 228-pound linebacker was a mainstay on the 1980 Notre Dame defense that finished fourth in the country in total defense, fifth in scoring defense and eighth in both rushing and passing defense. He’s perhaps best known for a blocked field goal with six seconds remaining that preserved a 12-10 victory over No. 6 Michigan in Ann Arbor in 1979.
Crable was selected with the 23rd overall pick of the 1982 NFL Draft by the New York Jets. He played six NFL seasons and remains the only Irish linebacker to be selected in the first round of the NFL Draft.
Crable received his Notre Dame degree in 1982 from the College of Business Administration with a major in finance. He currently works in commercial real estate with Capital Real Estate Partners in Cincinnati while also serving as president of the Crable Investment Group. He's also president of the Crable Foundation, which helps fund educational opportunities for student-athletes of team sports to attend Catholic schools.
