Bob Sanders Ready To Play Again

I really don’t follow pro football all that much. I decided to check in and noticed that Bob Sanders is recovering from a shoulder surgery.

The article I read starts off with this line. “The Super Bowl champions finally have their top defensive playmaker back on the field.”

It does my heart good to hear such amazing things said about a former Hawkeye. Especially one that nobody really expected to amount to anything in college. Even after his accomplishments in college, people seemed to think that he was too small to play in the pros.

Sanders is definitely able to be a big playmaker in the pros, but there might be something to the thought that he is too small. He does seem to end up on the injured list more often then I’m sure the Colts would like.

When he is on the field, he seems to always be making the big play. But he only played four regular season games last season and only 6 games his rookie season. I don’t think he started right away with the colts, but I am pretty certain that he did miss a fair amount of games from injury that year, too.

Hopefully the shoulder surgery will fix him up and he will be able to stay on the field for the rest of his career. When he is healthy, he makes quite an impact for a man too small to play in the NFL.

A football league for everyone

I was scanning the internet today and found out that former Hawkeye running back Marques Simmons just signed a contract to play some pro football. He will be playing for the Quad City Steamwheelers. The post says that he will be playing in the AF2 (arenafootball2).

Now, I’ve heard of Arena Football, but the 2 was new for me. Did the original AFL shut down and this is the second try? Did they massively overhaul the rules to make the game even more interesting and therefore become version 2.0?

No. The AF2 is a minor league for the AFL. Players go there to develop to get good enough to play for the AFL.

While I’m happy to hear that Marques Simmons is still able to play some football, is this really that much removed to a park district summer league? At what point should decent football players give up their sporting dreams and go get a job at the local Home Depot?

Madden 2007 - Dallas Clark

This is pretty funny.

This video was made to highlight Madden 2007. It shows a really huge hit on Dallas Clark, a former Hawkeye tight end playing on the Indianapolis Colts these days.

Apparently, he got a little bothered by the whole thing.

So, they made this version to make up, or at least pacify, him.

That is some good former Hawkeye highlights!

Brunner and Horner to Play In Belgium

Both Brunner and Horner have signed to play on two different teams in Belgium.

Brunner must have decided he wasn’t going to get much playing time with Minnesota Timberwolves and I’m not sure if Horner had any kind of offers.

While not as exciting as playing in the NBA, playing in Europe is going to be a great experience for both Iowa players. I spent a measly six weeks in Germany several years ago and still remember almost every second of it. Getting to live overseas right after college is an extremely educational experience. Both Brunner and Horner grew up in Iowa. I’m not sure how many vacations they’ve taken out of the country, but I’m sure there will be some culture shock moving away for so long. At least they’ll be able to hang out together while they get used to everything.

Hopefully, both will be able to make a return to the U.S. to play in the NBA, but if not, they will get paid well, get to play competitive basketball, and get an experience unlike anything that most people in America get.