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).
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.
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.