Paddy Mullen might consider playing for the Irish a birthright. "My full name is Patrick McKee Mullen," he said. "I'm a big-time Irish Catholic and I've been a Notre Dame fan growing up."Mullen, the 6-foot-5, 265-pound tight end out of DeSmet Jesuit High School in St. Louis, verbally committed to Notre Dame in a Saturday morning meeting with Irish coach Charlie Weis. Defensive end Kallen Wade, from Cincinnati's Withrow High School, also committed to Notre Dame this weekend bringing total verbal commitments for the class of 2010 to five."Ever since I went there for the first time on Feb. 27 I just fell in love with the place," Mullen said. "It really has been a dream of mine to play for a school as prestigious as Notre Dame and it looks like it's coming true."Mullen mainly played defensive end last season due to a broken hand. He tallied 27 tackles including nine tackles for loss and seven sacks. However, he is expected to play tight end for the Irish. "I'm very aggressive," Mullen said. "I run a 4.7 [forty yard dash] so I'm pretty quick off the line. I just love hitting people. It's awesome, it really is.""What he does have is great hands," Mike Frank of Irisheyes.com said. "He can catch anything. He reminds you a lot of [current Notre Dame tight end] Anthony Fasano. He's a guy that plays hard and makes all the catches. I think the sky's the limit for him."Wade, on the other hand, is expected to suit up at defensive end at Notre Dame. But his size (6-foot-5, 220 pounds) is a concern at that position."He's probably a little raw at this point," Frank said. "He'll need to add some weight. But he's a real first class athlete, a guy that can really run. He's a Justin Tuck type - a really good athlete that can run."One of the main reasons for Mullen choosing Notre Dame over schools such as Nebraska, Iowa, Ohio State and Miami was his relationship with the coaching staff."Weis is a great guy," he said. "I like him a lot."Mullen also mentioned how excited he is for the future of Irish football. "Notre Dame is going to be the football school again and I just want to go along for the ride," Mullen said. Wade could not be reached for comment.
