Former Notre Dame tight end Eli Raridon had a special moment in his first-ever NFL game with the New England Patriots last week.
The rookie not only scored his first career touchdown in the season opener against the Seattle Seahawks – he had the very first TD of the 2026 NFL season.
Following a pass interference call, the Patriots’ set up at the 2-yard line in the second quarter. Raridon cut to the top left corner of the end zone, where he caught a 2-yard pass from New England quarterback Drake Maye.
Marcus Freeman, who coached Raridon at Notre Dame from 2022 to 2025, made sure via video call on Wednesday to congratulate his former standout tight end and noted how proud he was of Raridon’s accomplishments.
“I was wide open, and (Drake Maye) just
threw it,” Raridon said. “It was really cool and something I’ll never forget. It was one of the easier touchdowns you could have in the league.”
An elated Freeman wanted to hear all about Raridon’s reaction right after the TD.
“What did you do after you scored?,” Freeman said.
“I paused for a minute, realized I scored then spiked (the ball),” Raridon said.
Raridon jokingly noted that the way he can have celebrations in the NFL is “a little different” from college football, referencing the 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that players receive if they spike the ball.
“When you get into the league, you can do anything you want,” Freeman said with a smile, adding that he said the same thing to former Irish star running back Jeremiyah Love.
Raridon played in 40 games for Notre Dame. In his career, he had 40 receptions for 623 and three scores.
Coach Freeman caught up with Eli Raridon to congratulate him on scoring the first touchdown of the NFL season 🙌#GoIrish☘️ | #IrishInTheNFL | @EliRaridon
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) September 16, 2026
🎥: NFL pic.twitter.com/kdXza0z3y0
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This article originally appeared on Fighting Irish Wire: Freeman congratulates former Irish tight end Eli Raridon on 1st NFL TD
