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By DAVID EICKHOLT
May 14, 11:14 AM
It has been quite the
year and career for Iowa center Tyler Linderbaum. On Friday, he added another
huge accolade to his long list of achievements when he was named Iowa's male recipient
of the Big Ten Medal of Honor.
The Big Ten Medal of
Honor is the conference’s most exclusive award, and the first of its
kind in intercollegiate athletics to recognize academic and athletic
excellence. The Big Ten Medal of Honor was first awarded in 1915 to one male
and one female student-athlete from the graduating class of each university who
had “attained the greatest proficiency in athletics and scholastic work.”
Linderbaum is an enterprise leadership major from Solon,
Iowa. He earned unanimous
consensus All-America honors at center for the Hawkeyes in 2022, becoming the
12th Hawkeye to earn that distinction. Linderbaum became Iowa’s first recipient
of the Rimington Trophy. He was also named the Rimington-Pace Big Ten
Conference Offensive Lineman of the Year while earning first-team All-Big Ten
honors for the second straight season.
Linderbaum
started 35 consecutive games at center for the Hawkeyes after playing as a
defensive lineman as a true freshman. He was one of four finalists for the Rotary Lombardi
Award, one of three finalists for the Outland Trophy, and a two-time Academic
All-Big Ten honoree. Linderbaum was selected by the Baltimore Ravens in the
first round of the 2022 NFL Draft – 25th pick overall – last month.
"It's
funny, every draft is different. Every team is different in how they do it. But
Tyler is kind of unusual," Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said. "I told
the guys at pro day, there's really not a lot to tell you because everything he
is, it's on film. I guess his arms weren't quite as long as somebody wants. We
have a lot of guys like that, too. Had a bunch of them. (Brandon) Scherff just
signed a pretty good contract. I'd rather have a guy that has his arms half an
inch short that can actually block guys trying to block them.
"Everything he does, his résumé is on film. You meet the
guy, had a couple teams comment on what their interview was like. One guy said
he could probably coach our offensive line. It was that detailed, that
thorough."
Linderbaum will go down
as one of Iowa's best offensive linemen in the Ferentz era. Now, he
begins the challenge of emerging as one of the NFL's best centers, which some
believe can happen after his rookie season.
"You're talking about one of the
best technicians – strong, physical, tough, quick-footed," Ravens general
manager Eric DeCosta said last week. "Somebody said it on TV, I think; if he was an
inch taller and his arms were a half-inch longer, he would've been a Top 5
pick, and I believe that. He's probably one of the better centers we've seen
come out in a long time."
