If You Build It, They Will Come

 Collecting Iowa and Iowa State schedules are tough enough, what about a FCS school with not as many NFL players! Well, doesn't mean we can't try.  Here's the start of the Northern Iowa schedules: 2019 Panini Prizm Draft Picks David Johnson This card shows David Johnson in his away jersey at an outdoor location.  The scan here is difficult to see, but there are football players in the background that are black and gold.  This is from a game at Iowa.  DJ played two games at Iowa, in 2012 and 2014.  Luckily for us, the jersey changed between those years, and the 2014 version has a large purple patch on the sleeve, so this is from the 2012 game. 2012 at Iowa, September 15th, 16-27 loss Panther FB 2012 Update: 1 / 12 Games Hawkeye FB 2012 Update: 1 / 12 Games

 In one of the biggest games in the Iowa / Iowa State rivalry over the weekend, the Hawkeyes beat the Cyclones on Saturday to take the unofficial crown of Best in Iowa.  The game was a battle of two teams ranked in the top 10 and was featured on College Football Countdown as Reece and the gang came to Ames and welcomed Ashton Kutcher who rode in on a John Deere to declare his support of the Hawkeyes. The week prior Iowa State beat UNI in a close game.  UNI doesn't often get to claim Best in Iowa, but it has happened in the past.  Three times I have counted, which is pretty good considering every game is on the road for them and they are FCS.  The three times were: 1992: UNI beats ISU 27-10 (+17) at Ames, and Iowa only beats ISU 14-7 (+7) in Iowa City. 2007: UNI beats ISU 24-13 at Ames, and Iowa State beats Iowa 15-13, so the Transitive property is in effect. 2013: UNI beats ISU 28-20 (+8) at Ames, and Iowa only ISU 27-21 (+6) in Ames. In 2009 UNI lost to Iowa 17...

Here's the initial list of players with Iowa Connections in the NFL in 2021. Seven teams are starting the year at zero, which I assume they are having discussions about in the background.  Tomorrow I'll list Iowa Connections on the practice squad and we'll declare the Iowa Connection "Who to Root For".  Buffalo, Green Bay and Jacksonville are trying hard to be that team this year. Note: Coaches in  italics Iowa Hawkeyes : 37 Iowa State Cyclones : 14 Northern Iowa Panthers : 9 Drake Bulldogs : 3 Ellsworth Community College : 1 North Iowa Area Community College: 1 Des Moines : 2 Iowa City : 1 Ames : 1 Cedar Rapids: 1 6 - Buffalo : Ike Boettger /  AJ Epenesa  / Micah Hyde (Iowa), AJ Klein (ISU), Spencer Brown (UNI), Matt Haack (W. Des Moines) 5 - Green Bay : Jerry Montgomery, Jack Heflin (Iowa), Allen Lazard (ISU), Ryan Mahaffey (UNI), Dominique Dafney (W. Des Moines ) 5 - Jacksonville :  C.J. Beathard  (Iowa),  Darrell Bevell,  Brian Sc...

 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)

  AFL 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.   1966 Stas Maliszewski, 13th, Davenport Lyle Loebach, 17th, Simpson Frank Fuller, 19th, Drake Randy Schultz, 20th, UNI Tim Van Galder, RS 2nd, ISU Joe Beauchamp, RS 6th, ISU Karl Noonan, UDFA, Iowa Mike Eischeid, UDFA, Upper Iowa 1965 Tom Vaughn, 11th, ISU John Berrington, 12th, ISU Mike Cox, 12th, ISU Rossevelt Ellerbe, RS 8th, ISU 1964 Mike Reilly, 5th, Iowa Pat Batten, 7th, Drake Wally Hilgenberg, 8th, Iowa Cloyd Webb, 11th, Iowa Paul Krause, 12th, Iowa Dick Herzing, 21st, Drake 1963 Keith Kinderman, 3rd, Iowa Chuck Walton, 13th, ISU 1962 Jerry Hillebrand, 2nd, Davenport Sherwyn Thorson, 3rd, Iowa Al Hinton, 6th, Iowa Wilburn Hollis, 13th, Iowa Larry Ferguson, 17th, Iowa Bill Van Buren, 23rd, Iowa Bernie Wyatt, 32nd, Iowa 1961 Tom Watkins, 8th, ISU Charles Lee, 10th, Iowa Jim Morgan, 21st, ISU Wayne Fontes, 22nd, Iowa Don Webb, 24th, ISU...

  Profile Bryce Paup is a linebacker who played for Green Bay, Buffalo, Jacksonville and Minnesota in his NFL career.  A four time pro bowler and 1995 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, Paup played 11 years in the NFL.  Bryce was born in Jefferson* and played his college ball at the University of Northern Iowa**, where he now currently coaches. * Others from Jefferson: (NFL) Paup, Merv Krakau, Dave Long (NASA) Loren Shriver (Medal of Honor) Darrell R. Lindsey ** Panthers drafted in the 90s: Paup (6th 1990), James Jones (3rd 1991), Kenny Shedd (5th 1993), Dedric Ward (3rd 1997), and Ty Talton (5th 1999) Personal Notes So I love numbers and I love seeing the advanced stats that you can now access.  WAR is great for baseball, although never perfect, it does give a quick snapshot of value.  For football, that has to be way harder to determine though.  OL vs CB.  WR value dependent on QB?  RB value change over the years?  Well, pro football referen...

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)

     NBA 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.  Currently, there eight years out of the 73 years that do not have a relevant Iowa basketball player (1950, 1954, 1955, 1972, 1994, 2005, 2009, 2011). Pre-Draft Era Hal Crisler, ISU 1947 Dick Ives, Iowa Herb Wilkinson, Iowa 1948 Ray Wehde, ISU Murray Wier, Iowa Gordon Flick, Drake 1949 John Pritchard, 7th, Drake Bill Evans, Drake 1951 John Rennicke, 6th, Drake Frank Clasbeek, 6th, Iowa 1952 Chuck Darling, 1st, Iowa Bob Clifton, Iowa 1953 Delmer Diercks, ISU 1956 Bill Logan, 5th, Iowa Carl Cain, Iowa 1957 Gary Thompson, 5th, ISU Phil Murrell, 6th, Drake 1958 Phil Murrell, 4th, Drake John Crawford, 6th, ISU Don Medsker, 12th, ISU 1959 Dave Gunther, 8th, Iowa 1960 Americas John-Lewis, 10th, Iowa 1961 Hank Whitney, 4th, ISU Gus Guydon, 4th, Drake Stacey Arceneaux, UDFA, ISU 1962 Don Nelson , 3rd, Iowa Jerry Foster, 6th, Drake Vince Brewe...

 Today we have a new collection of cards for the 2021 ICY set.  These 16 cards honor the achievements of the wrestling teams from three major Iowa NCAA teams: Iowa, Iowa State, and UNI.  Iowa won NCAA Championship, Spencer Lee was the Wrestler of the Year and Tom Brands is the Coach of the Year. Iowa Hawkeyes Iowa State Cyclones Northern Iowa Panthers

Here's my updated list for Iowa Connections on NBA teams.  Connections are sparser than the NFL, so I will only list teams with connections. Note: Coaches in italics . Note 2: Matt Thomas and Tyler Cook have played for 2 teams this year. Iowa State Cyclones : 7 Ames : 2 Iowa Hawkeyes : 2 Northern Iowa : 1 Buena Vista : 1 Cedar Falls : 1 1 - Brooklyn :             Tyler Cook (Iowa) 2 - Toronto :              Nick Nurs e (UNI),  Matt Thomas (ISU) 1 - Los Angeles Lakers :      Talen Horton-Tucker (ISU) 1 - Phoenix :      Abdel Nader (ISU) 2 - Sacramento :       Harrison Barnes (Ames),  Tyrese Haliburton (ISU) 2 - Indiana :                Doug McDermott (Ames),  Nate Bjorkgren (Buena Vista) 2 - Denver :           Monte Morris (ISU), Ryan Bowen (Iowa) 2 - Utah : ...

Here's the final list of players with Iowa Connections in the NFL in 2020.  For shame Dallas, New Orleans, Atlanta and Carolina.  I mean 3/4 NFC West teams had 0 Iowa Connections (the one team that did won the Super Bowl, think about that!) Note: Coaches in italics Iowa Hawkeyes : 46 Iowa State Cyclones : 15 Northern Iowa Panthers : 8 Iowa Western Community College : 3 Drake Bulldogs : 2 Ellsworth Community College : 2 Des Moines : 3 Iowa City : 1 Ames : 1 Cedar Falls : 1 Marion : 1 Johnston : 1 5 - Green Bay : Christian Kirksey, Josh Jackson , Jerry Montgomery (Iowa), Allen Lazard (ISU), Dominique Dafney (W. Des Moines) 5 - New England :    Carl Davis, James Ferentz, Ross Reynolds (Iowa), Xavier Williams (UNI), Nick Caley (ISU) 5 - Chicago : David Montgomery,  Jay Rodgers  (ISU), James Daniels /  Mark DeLeone  (Iowa),  Mike Furrey  (UNI) 4 - Buffalo : Ike Boettger /  AJ Epenesa  / Micah Hyde (Iowa), AJ Klein (IS...

    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...

 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...