If You Build It, They Will Come

Profile Merton Hanks was an All-Pro safety with the San Francisco 49ers who played nine years* in the NFL.  Hanks was a All-Pro twice, and won the Super Bowl with the 49ers.  He played corner for the Iowa Hawkeyes and was drafted in 1991**, and now is a high level executive with the Pac-12. * 8 with SF, and one with Seattle.  I wonder if he has a Seattle card (scans...), nope.  But he does has a bunch of new cards from 2018-2020, all serial numbered below 100.   ** A fifth round pick as scouts thought he'd be too slow in the NFL Personal Notes Merton Hanks was a fun player.  Everyone who watched the NFL in the 90s probably remembers his chicken dance when he made a big play.  He falls into this category of random players (though pretty good) who play non-skill positions who normally get forgotten, but he'll be remembered because he played on those very important 49ers teams.  Fox showed the 49ers a lot, and we saw them in the playoffs a bunch...

        Profile C.J. Beathard is a quarterback with the San Francisco 49ers, drafted in the 3rd round of the 2017 draft *after spending his college career at the University of Iowa.  He currently backs up Jimmy Garoppolo in SF, so he's almost always on call.  C.J. is the grandson of NFL HOFer Bobby Beathard**. * Iowa Hawkeyes in this draft: Beathard, Jaleel Johnson, George Kittle (All-Pro) and Desmond King (All-Pro). Other Iowa connections include Amara Darboh (W. Des Moines) and Eric Saubert (Drake). ** and great nephew to former NFL quarterback Pete Beathard and brother to country music singer Tucker Beathard.   Personal Notes C.J. is a part of a long tradition of Hawkeye QBs who haven't done much in the NFL.  You could argue that the best two QBs in Iowa history are Chuck Long and Brad Banks, but neither did much in the pros.  Ricky Stanzi and Randy Duncan had solid CFL careers, but not much in the NFL.  In fact, using Pro F...

        Profile Roger Craig was a running back for the San Francisco 49ers, Los Angeles Raiders, and Minnesota Vikings and had a HOF worthy career (missed out on election in 2020*).  Craig was the first RB to rush and receive for a 1000 yds in a season, and is one of three rbs to lead the league in receptions.  He won three Super Bowls with the 49ers.  He was born in Davenport, and went to high school at Central High School**.   * Other Iowa connections eligible for that call: Alex Karras, Duke Slator, Jimmy Johnson, Dallas Clark, Merton Hanks, Reggie Roby, and Bob Sanders.  ** NFL Players from Central : Julian Vandervelde, Austin Howard, Jamie Williams, Jim Jensen, and Jim Hester. Personal Notes Remember Nebraska?  There was a time back in the day when it was the biggest program in the midwest, and this is where Iowans used to go when they wanted to be competitive for national titles.  Trev Alberts , Roger Craig, Jaime Willia...

        Profile George Seifert was a coach starting back in 1964 as a grad assistant at Utah all the way through 2001 with the Carolina Panthers.  He won 5 Super Bowls, 3 as a coordinator with San Francisco and 2 as the head coach.  He is the owner of the 2nd highest win % in NFL history, product of being handed an elite 49ers team, and being pushed out at the top by an owner who wanted Steve Mariucci as his head coach*.  I'm sure if you asked him, the most important year of his career was 1966 when he was a Graduate Assistant as the University of Iowa**. * 49ers won their division 2 out of the next 14 years until Jim Harbaugh arrived ** The Iowa coaching tree is large, including Jerry Burns (Vikings), Bill Snyder (Kansas St), Barry Alvarez (Wisconsin), Bob Stoops (Oklahoma), Dennis Green (Vikings/Cardinals), Bret Bielema (Wisconsin), Mike Stoops (Arizona), Chuck Long (San Diego St), Dan McCarney (Iowa State), Lou Holtz (Notre Dame), Wayne Fontes ...