Countdown to kickoff: Notre Dame vs. Ohio State is only 27 days away
To preview one of the most anticipated games for Notre Dame this century and the official start of the Marcus Freeman era, BlueandGold.com is counting down the days to the matchup against Ohio State on Sept. 3.
This daily series of 99 stories celebrates by the numbers some of the most notable names, dates, moments and memories related to the past and present of Notre Dame football.
Today, with 27 days remaining until kickoff, we look back at the All-America career of Irish defensive back Mike Townsend.
Townsend donned the No. 27 jersey for the Irish from 1971-73, and set a single-season program record with 10 interceptions while wearing it in 1972.
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Brotherly love
For Mike and Willie Townsend, the three years they spent together at Notre Dame from 1971-73 will forever be remembered as remarkable.
At the same time in 1972 that Mike led the nation and set the Notre Dame single-season record with 10 interceptions — in only 10 games — older brother Willie paced the Irish in receiving with 25 catches for 369 yards and four touchdowns.
Mike earned consensus All-American honors for his efforts.
A year later, the brothers were teammates on the 1973 national title team that Mike tri-captained.
Need more? Mike and Willie also moonlighted as walk-on guards for the first two basketball teams Digger Phelps coached at Notre Dame in 1971-72 and 1972-73.
A 2020 story by esteemed Blue & Gold senior editor Lou Somogyi rated the Townsends as the second-best brother tandem to ever play together at Notre Dame.
Ross Browner and Jim Browner (1975-77) were the only “Band of Brothers” Somogyi rated ahead of the Townsends.
An interesting recruitment
While Willie was finding his way as a Notre Dame freshman in 1968-69, little brother Mike was a senior at Hamilton (Ohio) Garfield High School near Cincinnati.
A gifted and coveted defensive back, Mike held dozens of scholarship offers, including one from Notre Dame, but he decided on Purdue.
Brian Boulac — a former Irish player, university coach and administrator, and an assistant under Ara Parseghian at the time — caught word of Mike’s decision and headed to Ohio to make a last-ditch recruiting pitch.
While waiting for Mike to return home from school, Boulac spent a couple of hours “recruiting” Mike’s mother to try and talk some sense into her son.
And while mom preferred Notre Dame over Purdue, she stayed true to her promise of staying out of her son’s decision.
Mike’s girlfriend wasn’t as accommodating and convinced her beau that Notre Dame — an all-male school at the time — was a better fit.
It turned out she was right.
Townsend’s 13 career picks still tie for third all-time at Notre Dame, and he remains one of only 25 players in NCAA history to record 10 or more interceptions in a single season.
Mike was selected by the Minnesota Vikings in the fourth round of the 1974 draft but didn’t make the roster. He then spent one professional season playing in the World Football League.
Townsend, 70, later returned to Ohio, got married — no, not his high school sweetheart — raised five children and enjoyed a long career with the U.S. Department of Energy.
