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17 hrs ago (September 5, 2019)
Editor:
Marshal John Yanda won
Super Bowl XLVII, was a Super Bowl captain, earned seven Pro Bowls, won the
Bruce Matthews Award for the NFL No. 1 offensive lineman and 11 other NFL
awards so far.
Marshal was a 12-year-old boy 22 years ago when I was his first
offensive line coach in seventh-grade football. He is: an Iowa farm boy, blue-collar, old-school,
disciplined, hard-working, respectful, a great teammate and a great family man.
I have
talked to Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz, voice of the Hawkeyes Gary Dolphin, a
director of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, Hawkeye fans at
Kinnick Stadium and Baltimore Ravens fans at Soldier Field in Chicago about
Marshal. I believe Iowa
Hawkeyes strength and conditioning coach Chris Doyle said it best, “There’s not
a more respected player in the National Football League than Marshal.”
Last year,
when my 13-year-old son Skylar broke his collar bone, I was really worried. The
first person I contacted after I left the emergency room was Marshal, who
himself has had seven surgeries. He was at the University of Iowa Football
Complex, it was 9 p.m. and he was working out. I asked him to send a text to
Skylar to cheer him up. He did this within minutes. Then, a few minutes later,
he sent a video to Skylar. He still had his sweatpants on and a towel on his
shoulder. Marshal’s contact to Skylar really helped him out.
To me, Marshal is much more than a football
player. He has been a great friend, someone I can really count on and a great
role model to my three sons and kids across the country. He even visited
with my St. Pat students in May of 2018.
Anamosa’s
three Blue Raider Hawkeyes are: Marshal, Ralph Beardsley and Don Norton. I have
gotten to know their families over the years: Marshal’s dad, John, Ralph’s
sons, Kim and Brad, and Don’s brothers Steve and Denny (The Norton Boys). They
have been very supportive in helping educate these legends to all of us.
Tim
Hollett
