Notre Dame Football: Adding Players Names to Jerseys for Title Game Is Wise Move

Calm down, traditionalists. Putting the players' names on the back of the jerseys is good for the Notre Dame program, and the current players have earned it. 

The Fighting Irish don't typically sport names on their iconic jerseys, and there is nothing wrong with that. It puts the emphasis on the team over the individual, and the Irish have had little need to tweak that practice. 

However, they are changing it for their showdown with Alabama. 

The Notre Dame football equipment crew tweeted out this pic of the jerseys for the championship game. 

"

First batch of jerseys just showed up, here is @mteo_5 jersey twitter.com/NDFBEquipment/…

— Ryan Grooms (@NDFBEquipment) December 10, 2012"

This actually continues a new tradition being established at Notre Dame. This will be the fourth time that names have graced the jerseys, and the previous three have come in the Irish's last three bowl games. 

This is a nice little reward for the players. Those young men bust their tails all season to earn a trip to a bowl game, and a little personal recognition in the form of their name on their jersey is a nice touch and something extra for them to be proud of and remember.  

For this game, the Irish will be playing in front of the entire football world, and now the players will be easily recognizable. It is giving them all credit for a job well done.

This is not just good for team morale, but it can't hurt with recruiting.

Countless high school recruits will be watching this contest. They will see Notre Dame participating in the biggest of stages, and they can dream of having their name, one day, appearing on the back of a Notre Dame jersey.

While this is a little piece to a big puzzle that goes into a recruit's decision, it is an added bonus, and in the game of recruiting, any edge is a big one.