Notre Dame football great Nick Eddy, a 1966 national champion, dies at 81
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SOUTH BEND — Nick Eddy, an All-America running back who helped Notre Dame football win the 1966 national championship, died recently at age 81, the school announced.
A California native who grew up in the East Bay Area suburb of Tracy, Eddy finished third in the 1966 Heisman Trophy voting behind Florida quarterback Steve Spurrier and Purdue runner-up Bob Griese. That remained the highest finish by a Notre Dame running back until Jeremiyah Love matched that result last month.
Eddy accounted for 2,323 scrimmage yards in his three seasons with the Irish, who went 25-3-2 in that span. He scored 21 touchdowns from scrimmage, including a 91-yard reception in 1964 in a 17-15 road win against Pittsburgh.
That kept Notre Dame unbeaten through seven games before later suffering a season-ending loss at USC in Ara Parseghian’s first year as coach.
“Notre Dame football was at a low ebb when Ara (Parseghian) became coach, and as soon as he arrived on campus, things started changing in a hurry,” Eddy told the Tracy Press in August of 2017. “He brought new energy and excitement with him, not only just to the players, but to all the students. There were pep rallies all over the campus.”
Eddy’s 96-yard kickoff return against seventh-ranked Purdue his senior year was the pivotal score in a 26-14 win for the eighth-ranked Irish in a highly anticipated season opener.
“It all started with the kickoff return against Purdue,” Eddy said in 2016. “That kickstarted our season.”
Eddy was sidelined for the “Game of the Century” that November, a 10-10 tie at Michigan State. He slipped on the ice at the train station in East Lansing, aggravating a dislocated right shoulder he’d suffered two weeks earlier against Pitt.
Clocked at 4.4 seconds in the 40-yard dash, Eddy averaged 5.5 yards per carry and 16.1 yards per reception in his career. A bruising runner at 6-foot-1 and 210 pounds, No. 47 was a unanimous All-America choice as a senior.
The Detroit Lions drafted Eddy in the second round. He was taken 24th overall, six picks behind 1965 Heisman Trophy winner Mike Garrett of USC.
Despite a serious knee injury during the 1967 preseason, Eddy played for the Lions through 1972, scoring five career touchdowns and gaining 760 scrimmage yards.
Upon retirement, Eddy worked in insurance sales and served as a volunteer coach for Modesto Central Catholic High School’s football and track teams.
Inspired by former Secretary of State Colin Powell, whom he met at a local book signing, Eddy later earned a master’s degree and worked as a junior high school special education teacher.
An only child raised by a single mother, Eddy is survived by Jean, his wife of 59 years, their four children and nine grandchildren.
Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for the South Bend Tribune and NDInsider.com. Follow him on social media @MikeBerardino.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Notre Dame football legend Nick Eddy dies at 81
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