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There have been 13 tight
ends drafted from Iowa since 1958 and all made their drafting teams.
APR 6, 2022
Tight ends from the University of Iowa are drafting gold.
In 2016, George
Kittle, Noah Fant and T.J.
Hockenson were stacked at the position. Kittle was a fifth-round draft
pick of the San Francisco 49ers in 2017 and both Fant and Hockenson were first-rounders in
2019. Kittle has already been to three Pro Bowls and was voted
first-team all-pro for the NFC champions in 2019. Hockensen went to the Pro Bowl in 2020.
Since 1958, there have been 13 tight ends drafted by the NFL out
of Iowa. All made their drafting teams and all caught passes in the NFL except
one, Austin Wheatley, a fifth-round pick by the New Orleans Saints in 2000. He
was the only Iowa tight end to play fewer than three NFL seasons. His career
lasted one year.
Jonathan Hayes (1985, second round, Kansas City) played 12
seasons and Dallas Clark
(2003, first round, Indianapolis) and Jim Gibbons (1958, sixth round,
Detroit) 11 seasons
apiece. Scott Chandler (2007, fourth round, San Diego) played nine seasons,
Brandon Myers (2009, sixth round, Oakland) eight seasons and Marv Cook (1989,
third round, New England) seven. Tony Moeaki (2010, third round, Kansas City)
played five seasons and Scott Sluztker (1996, third round, Indianapolis) and
C.J. Fiedorwicz (2014, third round, Houston) four seasons apiece.
Clark and Hockenson both
won the Mackey Award as the best tight end in college football and Clark joined
Kittle as the only Iowa tight ends ever voted first-team all-pro. Like
Kittle, Gibbons went to three Pro Bowls, Cook went to two and Clark one. Those 13 Iowa tight ends have combined to play
83 NFL seasons, catching 2,466 passes for 27,812 yards and 184 touchdowns.
Tight
end is the clear strength of the all-time University of Iowa NFL team, but
safety isn’t far behind. The two top interceptors of all-time, Paul Krause (81)
and Emlen Tunnell (79), both played in the defensive backfield at Iowa. They
are among five Hall of Famers produced by the Hawkeyes.
Here’s Iowa’s all-time
NFL team:
QB—Chuck Long, 21 career starts, 19 TD
passes.
RB—Ed Podolak, NFL record 350 playoff
yards in 1971 game against Miami Dolphins.
RB—Ronnie Harmon, 12 seasons, 582 catches, 24
TDs.
WR—Quinn Early, 12 seasons, 460 career
catches, 40 TDs.
WR—Jerry Reichow, 1 Pro Bowl, 8 seasons, 172
career catches, 24 TDs.
*-TE—George Kittle, 3 Pro Bowls, 335 catches,
20 TDs.
OT—Duke Slater, Hall of Fame.
OT—John Alt, 2 Pro Bowls, 149 career
starts.
G—Marshal Yanda, 8 Pro Bowls, 166 career starts.
G—John Niland, 6 Pro Bowls, 126 career
starts.
C—Jay Hilgenberg, 7 Pro Bowls, 152 career starts.
DE—Adrian Clayborn, 10 seasons, 40 sacks.
DE—Aaron Kampman, 2 Pro Bowls, 10 seasons, 58
career sacks.
DT—Alex Karras, Hall of Fame.
DT—Karl Klug, 7 seasons, 21 ½ sacks.
LB—Andre Tippett, Hall of Fame.
LB—Chad Greenway, 2 Pro Bowls, 10 seasons,
1,103 career tackles.
LB—Wally Hilgenberg, 15 seasons, started in 4
Super Bowls.
CB—Bob Smith, 1 Pro Bowl, 6 seasons, 33
interceptions 4 TDs.
CB—Bob Jeter, 2 Pro Bowls, 11 seasons, 3-time
NFL champion.
S—Paul Krause, Hall of Fame.
S—Emlen Tunnell, Hall of Fame.
K—Nate Kaeding, 2 Pro Bowls, NFL scoring
leader in 2009.
P—Reggie Roby, 3 Pro Bowls, 1980s NFL
all-decade team.
KR—Tim Dwight, 10 seasons, 3 career KR and
2 PR for TDs.
ST—Jim Jensen, 12 seasons, 97 career ST
tackles, long snapper.
*-Still active
