Blair Kiel, Former Notre Dame Quarterback, Passes over Easter Weekend

While the Irish faithful are pumped up about Gunner Kiel and what the nation's top-ranked prospect can do for their football team, there is sadness in the Kiel and Notre Dame football family.

Blair Kiel, uncle of Gunner, passed away this weekend of what are deemed natural causes. He was just 50 years old.

Blair Kiel was, himself, a starting quarterback for the Fighting Irish, winning the job after just four games in the 1980 season. That year would be Coach Dan Devine's last year as he took the 9-1-1 Fighting Irish into the Sugar Bowl to face Vince Dooley's Georgia Bulldogs.

Kiel, a freshman starting in a big bowl game, was overshadowed by another freshman, Herschel Walker of the Georgia Bulldogs. Notre Dame would lose that game 17-10—a game that would give the Dawgs a national championship and cap an undefeated season.

Kiel was also the quarterback who ushered in the Gerry Faust era at Notre Dame—a time most Irish fans like to forget. They finished just 5-6 and 6-4-1 in his first two years and missed a bowl game.

However, Kiel was still slinging the football around the yard, and while Notre Dame was not piling up the wins in the early 1980s, he was putting up yards. Enough to put him all over the Fighting Irish record books after his departure following a 1983 Liberty Bowl victory over Boston College.

There's a legacy to remember, as the Kiel family and the greater Notre Dame community mourn the passing of one of their own.

With the Irish spring game approaching on the April 21, we'll see how the freshman handles the remainder of spring ball, following the untimely passing of his uncle and former Notre Dame quarterback.