If You Build It, They Will Come

        Profile David Johnson is a running back from the University of Northern Iowa, arriving there from Clinton*, Iowa.  After a successful career at UNI, David was selected in the third round of the 2015 draft by the Arizona Cardinals and was an All-Pro** by his second year in the league.  He currently plays for the Houston Texans. * Other notables from Clinton: Duke Slater (UofI CFB HOF), George Stone (MLB), Lillian Russell (Actress), George Nelson (Astronaut), Peggy Moran (actress) ** Three All-Pros from UNI: David Johnson, Kurt Warner and Bryce Paup Personal Notes This isn't a collection story, but an economics note.  It's about diversification, and how I like to spread out my pain and joy evenly.  I am a Vikings fan, and in the early 2000s they drafted a running back named Michael Bennett in the 1st round.  I was big into fantasy football by then, and drafted him onto many of my teams.  Well, he was mediocre, which is not great fo...

    Profile Davenport's own James Jones is a defensive tackle who played for Northern Iowa in the late 80s and early 90s.  Jones was drafted by the Cleveland Browns* in 1991 and played 10 years in the league amassing 3 catches for 4 yards and two touchdowns (plus 37 sacks and 432 tackles).  Jones remains the highest drafted UNI player at #57**.  * His head coach was Bill Belichek and his DC was Nick Saban  ** While Jones was 3rd rounder, he was still drafted higher than Brad Meester (2nd Round) who was #60 overall Historical Significance Northern Iowa has had a number of NFL players, including a Super Bowl MVP (Kurt Warner), DPOY (Bryce Paup) and current NFL players (David Johnson, LJ Fort).  Before James Jones, there were two UNI players that were drafted highly (Randy Schultz in the 5th in 1966, Bryce Paup in the 6th in 1990).   Neither had a Panther cards, so I think I can reasonably declare that: 🔔1991 Wild Card Draft was the first UNI P...

   NFL Draft Iowa Connections I'll be filling these in as I post in the blog.  I'll link to the players as they each get a post.   2021 NEW! Chancey Golston, 3rd, Iowa Spencer Brown, 3rd, UNI Elerson Smith, 4th, UNI Kene Nwangwu, 4th, ISU Ihmir Smith-Marsette, 5th, Iowa Daviyon Nixon, 5th, Iowa Nick Niemann, 6th, Iowa Alaric Jackson, UDFA, Iowa Mekhi Sargent, UDFA, Iowa Cole Banwart, UDFA, Iowa Brandon Smith, UDFA, Iowa Jack Heflin, UDFA, Iowa Coy Cronk, UDFA, Iowa Shaun Beyer, UDFA, Iowa Barrington Wade, UDFA, Iowa Landon Akers, UDFA, ISU Dylan Soehner, UDFA, ISU JaQuan Bailey, UDFA, ISU Lawrence White, UDFA, ISU Manny Rugamba, UDFA, Iowa Romeo McKnight, UDFA, Iowa Briley Moore, UDFA, UNI 2020 Joe Burrow , 1st, Ames Tristin Wirfs, 1st, Iowa A.J. Epenesa , 2nd Iowa Michael Ojemudia, 3rd Iowa Geno Stone, 7th Iowa Nate Stanley, 7th Iowa Steven Wirtel, UDFA ISU Ray Lima, UDFA ISU Julian Good-Jones, UDFA ISU Kristian Welch, UDFA Iowa Dominique Dafney, UDFA West Des ...

 If your NFL team is out, it's nice to have a team to root for.  Below are the teams ranked by the thing that matters to this blog: the number of Iowa Connections.  TLDR Go Buffalo!  Boo New Orleans! Iowa Playoff Connections 2 - Tampa Bay : Tristan Wirfs / Anthony Nelson (Iowa) 4 - Buffalo : Ike Boettger /  AJ Epenesa  / Micah Hyde (Iowa), AJ Klein (ISU) 4 - Green Bay : Christian Kirksey / Josh Jackson (Iowa), Allen Lazard (ISU), Dominique Dafney (W. Des Moines) 3 - Kansas City : Ben Niemann / Anthony Hitchens (Iowa), Kelechi Osemele (ISU) 3 - Tennessee : Parker Hesse/ Desmond King / Amani Hooker (Iowa) 2 - Washington : Ross Pierschbacher (Cedar Falls), Brandon Scherff (Iowa) 2 - Los Angeles Rams : Austin Blythe / Jake Gervase (Iowa) 2 - Baltimore : LJ Fort (UNI), Kristian Welch (Iowa) 2 - Cleveland : Adrian Clayborn / Derrick Willies (Iowa) 2 - Chicago : David Montgomery (ISU), James Da...

   Profile Randy Blocker was guard for the Panthers basketball team for two seasons (1992-93, 1993-94), earning All Missouri Valley Conference* recognition his senior year.  Blocker transferred to UNI after two years at Western Nebraska Community College.  Blocker was drafted** by the Hartford Hellcats*** of the CBA****. * Notable from team: Anthony Parker of Bradley  ** Iowa players from this CBA draft : James Winters (Iowa) *** Notable Hellcats that year: Les Jepsen (Iowa) and Bo Kimble **** Scrolling the draft class I saw this footnote. "Campos not eligible for draft and was picked for publicity purposes"  Jorge Campos was a Mexican goalkeeper, and I have no idea why the CBA drafted him, only that he is awesome, and who doesn't want that! Historical Significance Northern Iowa has a rich basketball history, most notably their Sweet 16 run in 2010.  However, they have yet to place a player in the NBA, which makes finding a player in his UNI jersey o...