If You Build It, They Will Come

 Arena Football League HOF The Arena Football Hall of Fame is the highest honor an Arena Football League member can achieve and is home to just over 50 players, coaches and contributors.  Here's the best list I can come up with of Iowa Connections in this HOF. Iowa Hawkeyes Jim Foster (Founder of AFL) Jon Roehlk (OL/DL) Northern Iowa Kurt Warner (QB) Iowa Barnstormers Mike Hohensee (Coach) Kyle Moore-Brown (OL/DL Coach)

Pro Football HOF The Pro Football Hall of Fame is located in Canton, Ohio and is home to just over 346 members.  Each member receives a gold jacket upon enshrinement.  Here's the best list I can come up with of Iowa Connections in this HOF. Iowa Hawkeyes Players Alex Karras Paul Krause Duke Slater Andre Tippett Emlen Tunnell Iowa State Cyclones Coaches Jimmy Johnson Don Shula Mike Michalske Northern Iowa Players Kurt Warner Coe Kohawks Coaches Marv Levy Lived in Iowa Players Terry Bradshaw (Lived in Camanche)

      Profile Iowa is known for many things, but it holds a very strong relationship to wrestling.  Some of the worlds best wrestlers are from Iowa, including Dan Gable and Cale Sanderson*.  Even wrestling entertainment competitors have come from Iowa, most famously Seth Rollins**.  However, the story of Iowa wrestling starts with Frank Gotch.   Frank Gotch was a mixure of that "real" wrestling to the entertainment wrestling many of us know today.  From Humbolt, Iowa, Frank became the World Heavyweight champion in 1908 through 1913.  The 5 year reign is one of the longest reigns of that title.  He was the Hulk Hogan of the era, and would become so popular that when attending a Chicago Cubs game, the players would ask him for his autograph.  WWE inducted him into their HOF as a Legacy member. * Other Iowa wrestlers with cards and medals: Terry Brands (U of I 2000 Bronze), Tom Brands (U of I 1996 Gold), and Nat Pendleton (Davenpo...

  College Football HOF The College Football Hall of Fame is located in Atlanta, Georgia and is home to just over 1,000 college football players and over 200 coaches.  Here's the best list I can come up with of Iowa Connections in this HOF. Iowa Hawkeyes Players Duke Slater Nile Kinnick Gordan Locke Aubrey Devine Cal Jones Alex Karras Randy Duncan Chuck Long Larry Station Andre Tippett  NEW! Coaches Hayden Fry Forest Evashevski Howard Jones Eddie Anderson Slip Madigan Barry Alvarez Staff and players who made it elsewhere Earl Banks (Morgan State, player at Iowa) Frank Carideo (Notre Dame, asst. coach at Iowa) Lou Holtz (Notre Dame, asst. coach at Iowa) Bill Snyder (Kansas State, asst. coach at Iowa) Bob Stoops (Oklahoma, player/asst. coach at Iowa) NEW! Iowa State Cyclones Players Troy Davis Ed Bock Coaches Earle Bruce (Ohio State, Iowa State, Northern Iowa and Iowa Barnstormers) Pop Warner Alex Agase (Northwestern, Iowa State, Purdue) Edward Mylin (Iowa State, Lebanon Val...

    National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is located in Kansas City, Missouri and is home to around 300 members.  Here's the best list I can come up with of Iowa Connections in this HOF. Iowa Hawkeyes George Raveling Lute Olson Ralph Miller Sam Barry

  Baseball Hall of Fame The Baseball Hall of Fame is located in Cooperstown, New York and is over 300 members.  Here's the best list I can come up with of Iowa Connections in this HOF. Born in Iowa Cap Anson (Marshalltown) Fred Clarke (Winterset) Dave Bancroft (Sioux City) Red Faber (Cascade) Bob Feller (Van Meter) Dazzy Vance (Orient) Milo Hamilton, Sportscaster (Fairfield) Lived in Iowa Ed Barrow (Des Moines)

   Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is located in Springfield, Massachusetts and is home to just over 400 members.  Here's the best list I can come up with of Iowa Connections in this HOF. Iowa Hawkeyes Connie Hawkins George Raveling Ralph Miller Don Nelson Lute Olson C. Vivian Stringer Sam Barry Coe Kohawks Bill Fitch

        Profile Don Nelson is a former small forward with the Iowa Hawkeyes* who earned a 3rd team All-American nod in his time there.  Don played in the NBA for 14 years, and won 5 NBA titles with the Boston Celtics during his time there.  Then, he went on to coaching and became the winningest coach of all time and also winning Coach of the Year 3 times. He is retired now.** * It's between him and Connie Hawkins for the best Iowa player ever.  Fred Brown, BJ Armstrong and Ricky Davis fill in that next tier. ** I'm just going to paste this here from his Wikipedia page.  Don Nelson is living his best life: As of April 2018, Nelson lives in Maui, where he has a farm to grow flowers, coffee, and cannabis. He hosts local poker games with celebrities such as Willie Nelson, Woody Harrelson, and Owen Wilson. “I know how far I’ve come from being a hog farmer,” Nelson said of his career. “I’ve come a long, long way from being some country kid. I got in the...

        Profile When coming up with a list of greatest athletes to come from Iowa, Bob Feller is always on that short list.  Known as the "Heater from Van Meter", Feller was an instant smash in his first start striking out 15 batters.  Later that season he struck out 17 batters in one game.  After a successful rookie season, Feller returned home to Iowa and finished his senior year.  Not college, but high school.  Yes, he was a 17 rookie dominating the league.   Feller has the 4th highest WAR* of any Iowan, but is still regarded as the best ever.  Why?  Well, besides the stat packing that Cap Anson had (27 seasons!), Feller gave up 4 prime years of his career to enlist in the Navy.  This selfless act to protect our nation is another proud Iowan tradition**. Feller is one of 7 MLB HOFs born in Iowa (Anson, Clarke, Faber, Feller, Vance, Bancroft, and J.L. Wilkinson from Algona, founder of the Kansas City Monarchs). Ed B...