By Jeff Orvis
In just over two weeks, we will have
NFL football again. The Hall of Fame game is set for Sunday night,
Aug. 4, with Miami clashing with Dallas.
In anticipation of the pro and college
football seasons, it's become a tradition of mine to scan the
preseason rosters of the pro teams to see how many players who played
their college ball in Iowa are getting a shot at a pro career. This
is a time when the rosters are greatly bloated from what they will be
when the official start of the regular season comes in September. The
dreams of probably hundreds of young men who have to this point
devoted 10 or more years to the goal of playing pro ball dissolve
when their names appear on the cut list.
But it's still fun to see how much
respect the league has for the caliber of college ball being played
each Saturday in Iowa. Even though I'm a proud Chicago Bears fan,
I'll still be following teams like the Eagles and Vikings, who
currently have five players with Iowa ties on their rosters.
So a quick check of the rosters seems
to indicate that this is still a Hawkeye state, in a big way.
Thirty-five former Hawks are on pro rosters at this point. There are
13 former Iowa State players, six from Northern Iowa and one from Coe
College. Of the 32 teams in the league, 25 have at least one player
who played in Iowa. Aside from the aforementioned Vikings and Eagles,
with five each, Green Bay and Carolina are next in line with four
players each.
Eleven of the players are rookies,
including five each for Iowa and Iowa State and one for Northern
Iowa. But there are also a couple of real veterans. Brad Meester of
UNI is a center for Jacksonville with 14 years of experience. And New
Orleans quarterback Seneca Wallace, a proud Cyclone grad, has had 10
years in the league.
It seems like the state has produced a
good share of quality linemen. There are 29 offensive players and 26
on defense. On offense, 16 are linemen, there are three quarterbacks,
two running backs, four tight ends and four wide receivers. On the
defensive side, six are tackles, two are ends, eight are linebackers
and the remaining 10 play in the secondary.
I've included a rundown of teams who
feature players with Iowa ties. So think cool thoughts, It may be 92
degrees as I write this, but football isn't too far away!
BUFFALO BILLS
Player Pos. Exp. School
Scott Chandler TE 7 Iowa
Fred Jackson RB 7 Coe
MIAMI DOLPHINS
Marvin McNutt WR 1 Iowa
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
Markus Zusevics OL 2 Iowa
A.J. Edds LB 4 Iowa
Jeff Tarpinian LB 2 Iowa
NEW YORK JETS
Austin Howard OT 4 Northern Iowa
Jake McDonough DT R Iowa State
KANSAS CITY CHIEFS
Ricky Stanzi QB 3 Iowa
Tony Moeaki TE 4 Iowa
Greg Castillo S R Iowa
SAN DIEGO CHARGERS
Chad Rinehart G 6 Northern Iowa
BALTIMORE RAVENS
Reggie Stephens C 2 Iowa State
Kelechi Osemele G 2 Iowa State
Marshal Yanda G 7 Iowa
CINCINNATI BENGELS
Shaun Prater DB 2 Iowa
CLEVELAND BROWNS
Keenan Davis WR R Iowa
Ahtyba Rubins DL 6 Iowa State
L.J. Fort LB 2 Northern Iowa
HOUSTON TEXANS
Tim Dobbins LB 8 Iowa State
INDIANAPOLIS COLTS
Pat Angerer LB 4 Iowa
JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS
Allen Reisner TE 2 Iowa
Brad Meester C 14 Northern Iowa
TENNESSEE TITANS
Shonn Greene RB 5 Iowa
Karl Klug DT 3 Iowa
NEW YORK GIANTS
Brandon Myers TE 5 Iowa
Tyler Sash S 3 Iowa
PHILADELPHIA EAGLES
Matt Tobin G R Iowa
Julian Vandervelde G 2 Iowa
Jake Knott LB R Iowa State
Bradley Fletcher CB 5 Iowa
David Sims S 2 Iowa State
WASHINGTON REDSKINS
Adam Gettis G 2 Iowa
Jordan Morris S 2 Iowa
SAN FRANCISCO 49ers
Carter Bykowski OL R Iowa State
CHICAGO BEARS
Josh Lenz WR R Iowa State
DETROIT LIONS
Riley Reiff OT 2 Iowa
Amari Spievey S 4 Iowa
GREEN BAY PACKERS
Terrell Sinkfeld WR R Northern Iowa
Bryan Bulaga OT 4 Iowa
Mike Daniels DE 2 Iowa
Micah Hyde CB R Iowa
MINNESOTA VIKINGS
James Vandenberg QB R Iowa
Seth Olsen G 4 Iowa
Brandon Keith OT 4 Northern Iowa
Christian Ballard DT 3 Iowa
Chad Greenway LB 8 Iowa
ATLANTA FALCONS
Jonathan Babineaux DT 9 Iowa
CAROLINA PANTHERS
Hayworth Hicks G 2 Iowa State
Colin Cole DT 7 Iowa
A.J. Klein LB R Iowa State
Charles Godfrey S 6 Iowa
NEW ORLEANS SAINTS
Seneca Wallace QB 10 Iowa State
TAMPA BAY BUCS
Adrian Clayborn DE 3 Iowa
Leonard Johnson CB 2 Iowa State
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