If You Build It, They Will Come

  Let's see how the Divisional round finished: **** 1 - 1 (9 - 3 total)**** (3)  Cincinnati  at (6) Kansas City (2) San Francisco at (3)  Los Angeles Rams Note: (#) is the number of Iowa Connections Cincinnati pulls the upset and keeps Anthony Hitchens and Ben Niemann from adding second rings.  

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 Larry Ball was a linebacker for the Miami Dolphins, Detroit Lions and Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 1970s.  Born in Iowa City he attended Louisville before the pros.  If you are really up on your NFL history, you'll note that Miami and Tampa Bay are unique in the 1970s by have the only undefeated season (Miami) and a winless team (Tampa Bay).  In fact, Larry is the only player to play the full season for both teams*.   * Something you don't see anymore, one other Dolphin was drafted in the expansion draft by Tampa, but retired instead of playing with Tampa.  He opted to go to med school instead. Personal Notes So when I'm at a card show (sigh, I miss those), I did through a  lot of dime boxes.  When I run into a cluster of 1970s cards, I typically flip them over and go through the bio data, specifically college and birth place.  I can't always remember the older guys (although I am getting better), so I'll ca...

        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 Joe Bugel was a head coach for both the Arizona Cardinals* and Oakland Raiders in his career, but is probably most regarded for the offensive line that he build with the Washington Redskins in the 1980s.  The "Hogs" were the driving force that led the team to 3 Super Bowl appearances and 2 titles.  Joe Bugel was an assistant coach for the Iowa State Cyclones in 1973**.   * Other Iowa connected Cardinal Head Coach: Dennis Green (U of I) ** 1973 ISU team included: Keith Krepfle (Eagles), Earl Bruce (OSU and UNI Head coach), Ike Harris (Cardinals and Saints), Mike Strachan (Saints), and Matt Blair (Vikings) Personal Notes Much ado has been done about the Iowa coaching staff, especially the remarkable 1983 staff, but Iowa State has a bunch of big name coaches that have worked there way through Ames.  How about NFL coachs Joe Bugel (Cardinals) and John Fox(Panthers)?  Oh, you want champions?  How about Gene Chizik (A...

        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 ...

 The Super Bowl is played every year, and every year there is a winner.  The right team doesn't always win though.  No, sometimes the universe makes a mistake and the wrong team wins.  But how do we know who these "Misplaced Winners" are?   Well, this blog circles around one thing, and that's the Iowa Connection.  So, obviously every Super Bowl should have at least one Iowa Connection, but not every one does.  Either I've missed the connection (possible!), or the universe messed up.  Thanos snapped his fingers and the Patriots won.  So lets look at those Iowa-less Super Bowl winners and see who it should have been. Note : Of the 55 Super Bowls, only 8 have been Iowa-less. (Maybe less, I'm always finding connections) Update 1: Removed 1982 (Washington has Joe Bugel ) Update 2: Removed 2016 (New England had Brendon Daly) Update 3: Removed 2007 (New York had Pat Flaherty) Update 4: Removed 1977 (Dallas had Jim Myers) Update 4: Removed 2002 ...

  Championships Note: Updating this page as I go, but NBA/NFL/NCAAF/CFL/Arena/MLB are pretty close to being complete. Note: I include anyone who coached/played for the team during their championship season.  I don't know who has received rings, but everyone who was with the team helped that team.  Butterfly effect, yada, yada.  So A.J. Derby played for the 2016 Patriots and was traded mid-season but being an Iowa Connection his time with the team helped them become champions. NBA Champions 6 - Jimmy Rodgers , Asst. Coach, Iowa (1981, 1984, 1986, 1996, 1997, 1998) 5 - Don Nelson (1966, 1968, 1969, 1974, 1976) 3 - B.J. Armstrong (1991, 1992, 1993) 1 - Talen Horton-Tucker, Iowa State (2020) 1 - Nick Nurse, Coach, UNI (2019) 1 - Nate Bjorkgren, Coach, Buena Vista (2019) 1 - Harrison Barnes , F, Ames (2015) 1 - Donnie Nelson, GM, Iowa City (2011) 1 - Terry Stotts, Asst. Coach, Cedar Falls (2011) 1 - Matt Bullard, F, Iowa (1994) 1 - Bob Hansen, G, Iowa (1992) 1 - Ron...