Since 1887, 241 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players have earned the distinction of team captain.^[1][2][3]

Dr. Henry Luhn established the role of football captain in 1887, followed by the first two-year captain in Ed Prudhomme.

There are 27 players who have earned the distinction of captain twice: Edward Prudhomme (1888–89); Frank Keough (1893–94); Louis "Red" Salmon (1902–03); Leonard Bahan (1918–19); Pat Filley (1943–44); Bob Olson (1968–69); Willie Fry (1976–77); Bob Crable (1980–81); Phil Carter (1981–82); Ned Bolcar (1988–89); Ryan Leahy (1994–95); Ron Powlus (1996–97); Grant Irons (2000–01); Brady Quinn (2005–06); Travis Thomas (2006–07); Tom Zbikowski (2006–07); Maurice Crum Jr. (2007–08); Zack Martin (2012–13); Sheldon Day (2014–15); Nick Martin (2014–15); Mike McGlinchey (2016–17); Drue Tranquill (2017–18); Ian Book (2019–20); Robert Hainsey (2019–20); Avery Davis (2021–22); Jarrett Patterson (2021–22); JD Bertrand (2022–23).

Jack Mullen is the only Notre Dame player to be chosen as team captain three times, leading the Fighting Irish from 1897 through the 1899 season.

The first duo-captains were Gene "Red" Edwards and Tom Hearden during the 1926 season, and the first trio was chosen in 1973 with Dave Casper, Frank Pomarico, and Mike Townsend. The number of captains per season has increased steadily since the 1967 season, and the current record was eight in 2017. The last solo captain was Harrison Smith in 2011.

Four captains would eventually become head coaches for the Fighting Irish football team. These men were Frank Hering (1896–98), Louis "Red" Salmon (1904), Knute Rockne (1918–30), and Hugh Devore (1945, 1963).

Many of the captains have also received other honors during their collegiate careers. The list includes at least seventy-seven players who were selected to All-America teams, twenty-five consensus All-Americans, and seven that were selected unanimously. Nineteen have been enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame.^[4] A collection of other awards, the Lombardi (5), Maxwell (4), UPI Lineman of the year (4), Outland (3), Unitas (2), SN Player of the Year, Jim Parker, Sammy Baugh, John Mackay, Bronko Nagurski, Lott, Butkus, Bednarick, Walter Camp, and Wuerffel have also been won at least once.

Nine captains have been finalists for the Heisman Trophy a combined eleven times, including Allen Pinkett in 1983 (16th), Walt Patulski in 1971 (9th), Ian Book in 2020 (9th), Allen Pinkett in 1985 (8th), Frank Dancewicz in 1945 (6th), Ross Browner in 1977 (5th), Vagas Ferguson in 1979 (5th), Tom Clements in 1974 (4th), Tony Rice in 1989 (4th), Brady Quinn in 2005 (4th) and 2006 (3rd), and Manti Te'o in 2012 (2nd). Leon Hart finished atop the rankings in 1949 and became the only captain to win the Heisman.

There were at least four captains who were chosen by their peers to represent the Fighting Irish in the next football season, but were unable to perform their duty for a variety of reasons. Bill Walsh was elected to the distinction in 1896 after leading the Irish as starting quarterback in the previous season, but turned it down to enter Georgetown Law School. George Gipp was originally elected to be captain of the football team in 1920, but Knute Rockne suspended him in March because of what he stated as missing too many classes, while other reports speculated that he had been caught at an off-limits nightclub.^[5] In March 1935, captain-elect Joe Sullivan died of pneumonia, and as a result no captain acting in any capacity represented the Irish on the field that season. Moreover, an award in his name was donated by the Notre Dame club of New York to the interhall football program to serve as their season's championship trophy.^[6] Bill Smith was intended to become captain of the 1936 team, but was forced to drop football after a doctor deemed him unfit to play, with John Lautar filling his place as an acting captain. Of the four, only Smith and Sullivan are given recognition on the official list of Notre Dame captains, although a footnote below each season explains their unique circumstances.

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  Frank Shaugnessy, 1904 captain. He was also inducted into the Canadian football and baseball Halls of Fame.
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  Dom Callicrate, 1907 captain.
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  Knute Rockne, 1913 captain. He would become one of the most renowned coaches of all time, and still holds the highest win percentage of any major college football coach (.881).
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  Eddie Anderson, 1921 captain.
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  Frank Dancewicz, 1945 captain. He was the first overall pick in the 1946 NFL draft.
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  Bill Fischer, 1948 captain. He equaled George Connor's college distinctions with the same number of consensus All-American honors (1947–1948) and national championships (1946–1947). He also won the Outland Trophy in 1948 and was also enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame
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  "Jungle Jim" Martin, 1950 captain. He won three national championships at Notre Dame in 1946, 1947, and 1949, and then won four in the NFL (1950, 1952, 1953, 1957).
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  Jerry Groom, 1950 captain.
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  Jim Mutscheller, 1951 captain. He won one national championship at Notre Dame in 1949 and two in the NFL in 1958 and 1959. He was the first captain not to be enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame since Frank Dancewicz in 1945.
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  Myron Pottios, 1960 captain.
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  Nick Buoniconti, 1961 captain. He was the first captain to win a Super Bowl, winning the VII and VIII championships.
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  Rocky Bleier (left), 1967 captain. He won a national championship with the Fighting Irish in 1966, and then won four Super Bowls (IX, X, XIII, XIV).
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  Tom Clements, 1973 captain. He was the first captain to win an NCAA football, CFL, and NFL championship, doing the first two as a player and the last as a coach in 2010.
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  Bob Golic, 1978 captain. After a successful college and pro career, Golic would pursue acting and would become a long-standing radio host over various stations, many of which complimented Notre Dame.
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  Joe Montana, 1978 captain. The "Comeback Kid" has become one of the most successful pro quarterbacks of all time, winning four Super Bowls, three Super Bowl MVPs, and numerous selections for All-Pro and Pro Bowl teams.
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  Mike Golic, 1984 captain. He was the younger brother of 1978 captain Bob Golic, and was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2015.
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  Ricky Waters, captain. He is possibly best known for his, and teammate Tony Brooks, infamous suspensions by Lou Holtz for disciplinary reasons prior to the biggest game of the 1988 season against No. 2 USC. The Fighting Irish would crush the Trojans 27–10 before defeating No. 3 West Virginia to win the national championship.
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  Chris Zorich, 1990 captain. He was the first captain to win AA, Consensus AA, and Unanimous AA honors, all in consecutive seasons.
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  Aaron Taylor, 1993 captain. He founded the Joe Moore Award in 2015 to recognize the best offensive line unit in college football.
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  Allen Rossum, 1997 captain. He has two All-American distinctions in his notable track and field career.
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  Jarious Jackson, 1999 captain. He broke many yardage record while at Notre Dame (records which were all surpassed by Brady Quinn), and went on to win four Grey Cups in the CFL.
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  David Givens, 2001 captain. He won two Super Bowls with the New England Patriots and Tennessee Titans.
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  Arnez Battle, 2002 captain.
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  Sean Mahan, 2002 captain.
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  Gerome Sapp, 2002 captain.
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  Jim Molinaro, 2003 captain.
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  Ryan Grant, 2004 captain. He won Super Bowl XLV with the Green Bay Packers
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  Justin Tuck, 2005 captain. He won Super Bowls XLII and XLVI with the New York Giants
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  Brady Quinn, 2005 captain. He was one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play for Notre Dame, and set 36 school records.
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  Tom Zbikowski, 2006 captain. He was also a professional boxer and firefighter.
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  John Carlson, 2007 captain.
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  John Sullivan, 2007 captain.
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  2008 captain. He won Super Bowl 50 with the Denver Broncos.
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  Jimmy Clausen, 2009 captain.
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  Kyle McCarthy, 2009 captain.
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  Harrison Smith, 2011 captain. He would play in five consecutive pro bowls from 2015 to 2019.
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  Tyler Eifert, 2012 captain.
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  Zack Martin, 2012 captain. He set the record for most starts as an offensive lineman at Notre Dame with 52 during his college career. His MVP honors in the 2013 Pinstripe Bowl were also the first to be received by an offensive lineman in a FBS bowl game at any school since Jay Huffman in 1959.
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  Kapron Lewis-Moore, 2012 captain.
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  Manti Te'o, 2012 captain. T'eo had an enormously successful season as a Senior, winning the Maxwell, Lott, Chuck Bednarik, Walter Camp, Bronko Nagurski, Butkus, and Lombardi Awards in 2012, along with unanimous All-American recognition.
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  T. J. Jones, 2013 captain.
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  Sheldon Day, 2013 captain.
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  Nick Martin, 2014 captain. He is fellow captain Zack Martin's brother.
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  Jaylon Smith, 2015 captain
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  Mike McGlinchey, 2016 captain.
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  Isaac Rochell, 2016 captain.
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  Quenton Nelson, 2017 captain.
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  Drue Tranquill, 2017 captain.
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  Khalid Kareem, 2019 captain.