The Iowa Hawkeyes are one of the most proud at times successful Big Ten programs in both football and basketball.

Kirk Ferentz is the longest-tenured coach in the Big Ten, and in the country, and he is also the school’s all-time wins leader.

Fran McCaffery’s program won the Big Ten Tournament Championship last season with a victory over the Purdue Boilermakers, and now the Hawks are eyeing even better success in the coming years, although they have a lot of work to do to make their first Sweet 16 or better since 1999.

Recently, the Twitter account Barstool Iowa asked readers to name a forgotten Iowa Hawkeyes player.

This post was right up our alley, considering we’ve been big-time fans of the Iowa Hawkeyes for a long time.

Iowa’s football and basketball teams may not have been national championship caliber (for the most part) over the past few decades, but few schools have produced more memorable college or pro players in the two major college sports.

Which players would you name if you had the opportunity?

The first names that came to mind for me personally were Matt Roth, Dom Uhl, Chad Greenway and Bob Sanders. 

Sanders was an incredible defensive back for the Hawks who was drafted in the second round of the 2004 NFL Draft by the Indianapolis Colts.

Sanders went on to have an illustrious career with Indianapolis, becoming one of the best defensive backs in recent league history despite his short stature.

Chad Greenway Was a Force of Nature at Linebacker for the Hawkeyes


Former Minnesota Vikings and Iowa Hawkeyes linebacker Chad Greenway also came to mind while thinking of my favorite former Hawkeyes players.

Greenway had an impressive combination of strength, speed and fluidity in space that has been unmatched by any Iowa linebacker since in my personal opinion.

His pro career was also one to remember: Greenway racked up 1,103 tackles and 11 interceptions in 156 games during his time in the NFL, building on a storied college football career.

I thought of Uhl for his impressive ‘fro, and Roth for his savagery at the defensive end position, as well as his “dumb jock” persona that reminded me a bit of Rob Gronkowski for the Hawkeyes (I could never tell if Roth was being serious with some of his comments).

Here are some of Greenway’s best plays with Iowa:

One thing I’ve always noticed and admired about Iowa Hawkeyes student athletes is that they always seemed to be some of the hardest-working, blue collar guys in Division-I, both in basketball and football.

It was not uncommon to see a player redshirt or ride the pine for a year or two in Iowa City only to emerge as a mature and powerful All-Big Ten caliber performer a few years later.

In my mind, this is a testament to the coaching ability of Ferentz, McCaffery and the rest of the Iowa coaches, although both coaches’ game plans leave a lot to be desired at times.

Without further ado, here are some of the responses listed on the Barstool Iowa Twitter page.

Do you remember any of these guys, and if so which players stand out?


Quarterback Drew Tate and receiver Warren Holloway, Capital One Bowl heroes, also made the cut.

This is certainly one play I will never forget.

All Hail the Hawkeye Legends!

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