Former Notre Dame All-American and record setting wide receiver Jim Seymour passed away yesterday after a battle with brain cancer. He was 64.
Seymour teamed with quarterback Terry Hanratty to form one of the best quarterback-wide receiver tandems in Irish history, as the two classmates were deemed “Mr. Fling and Mr. Cling,” and memorialized on the cover of TIME magazine.
When reached by the South Bend Tribune, Hanratty told the paper he had a chance to visit Seymour two weeks ago in his hometown of Deerfield, Illinois.
“It was more being together than anything,” Hanratty said. “We never mentioned what was happening, but I think we both knew what was happening.”
Here’s more from the university release:When he graduated in 1969, Seymour qualified as Notre Dame’s all-time leading career receiver – with 138 catches for 2,113 yards and 16 touchdowns in his three-year varsity career from 1966-68. He was listed on the College Football Hall of Fame ballot for 2011.
He paced the Irish with 53 catches as a senior in ’68 for 736 yards and four TDs. As a sophomore in ’66 on Notre Dame’s national championship team he grabbed 48 throws for 862 yards and eight TDs. As a junior in ’67 he made 37 receptions for 515 yards and four TDs.
As a senior in ’68 he earned first-team All-America honors from United Press International, the American Football Coaches Association, the Walter Camp Foundation and The Sporting News. He received second-team recognition from Associated Press.
As a junior in ’67 UPI named him a first-team All-American. As a sophomore in ’66, Football News named him to its first-team All-America squad – while UPI and Newspaper Enterprise Association made him a second-team selection and AP and The Sporting News named him to their third teams.
Seymour joined with classmate and quarterback Terry Hanratty to form the pass-throwing and –catching battery known fondly as “Mr. Fling and Mr. Cling.” As sophomores they appeared together on the cover of TIME magazine.
A 6-4, 205-pounder originally from Berkley, Mich., Seymour joined Hanratty and their teammates and compiled a combined three-year mark of 24-4-2 from 1966-68. In the final AP poll, the Irish finished first in ’66 at 9-0-1, fifth in ‘’67 at 8-2 and fifth again in ’68 at 7-2-1. He led the Irish in receiving in each of his three seasons.
Seymour today ranks sixth on Notre Dame’s career chart for receptions. He remains the Notre Dame career leader in receptions per game (138 in 26 games for 5.3 per game). He also set the Notre Dame single-game record (that still stands) with 276 receiving yards (on 13 receptions and good forthree TDs) against Purdue in 1966.Seymour spent three years in the NFL after being selected in the first round by the Chicago Bears.