The uptick in overall football talent at Notre Dame has been undeniable in recent years, and NFL teams are taking notice.

At the start of this NFL season, 40 former Fighting Irish standouts were on NFL rosters, the sixth-most of any college.

Only Ohio State, Alabama, Georgia, LSU, and Texas had more.

And of those 40, now four of them are together on the reigning Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks.

By design or not, that essentially makes the Seahawks a professional version of Notre Dame in the Pacific Northwest.

The Seahawks began the year with three former Domers: defensive tackle Rylie Mills, safety Julian Love, and rookie running back Jadarian Price. On Tuesday, the Seahawks then traded for eight-time Pro Bowl selection Quenton Nelson from the Indianapolis Colts to help sure up the offensive line.

Notre Dame Leaving Mark on Reigning Super Bowl Champs

While former Notre Dame players have won several Super Bowls in recent years, it's been a long time since any made much noise in an actual Super Bowl game.

Last year was different, though, as Love intercepted a pass and Mills recorded what was his first professional sack in the 29-13 victory over the New England Patriots.

Those moments must have made an impression with the Seahawks brass as two of the biggest moves they have made since hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy have been to bring in a pair of former Notre Dame standouts.

Back in April, the Seahawks made running back Jadarian Price the final pick of the first round in the NFL draft, and on Tuesday, they gave up a 2027 third-round pick and 2028 fifth-round pick for an all-time great Colt in Nelson.

Price suffered a chest injury early in the year and has missed the last four games, but is back practicing this week, while Nelson figures to be ready to play in Monday night's game against the Chicago Bears.

Nick Shepkowski's Quick Thoughts

While I grew up a Bears fan, I spent a lot of my youth rooting for the Pittsburgh Steelers for no real reason other than they had my favorite former Notre Dame player, Jerome Bettis.

I don't think I'm alone in Notre Dame fans that tend to root this way. Sure, I still want the Bears to do well, and them having Scott Daly and Cole Kmet on the roster doesn't hurt, but my NFL rooting interest continues to center around former Notre Dame players having success.

While former Notre Dame players have won titles, not since the 49ers won Super Bowl 29 (Bryant Young and Ricky Watters specifically) over the Chargers have former Domers starred in the game like they did for Seattle last season.

I'm not usually one to root for the champs to repeat, but with the additions of Nelson and Price since last season, it's going to be hard for me to root against the Seahawks the rest of the way.