On the In-Klein

Growing up in the small town of Kimberly, Wisconsin; it took AJ Klein a little bit of getting accustomed to his new residence in Charlotte, North Carolina.  Going into his 3rd season with the Carolina Panthers, the former Iowa State linebacker is ready to show the league why he starts for one of the toughest defenses in the National Football League.

During his Junior year of high school, AJ was named the defensive player of the year in his conference and earned first team all-state honors as a senior, but that still did not raise awareness like it should have with colleges.

“My recruiting process was self-initiated.  After I got the recognition from these awards, I knew I wanted to keep playing football.  I ended up putting together a highlight tape with one of my good friends.  We got all of the tapes from my games and we sat down and went through each clip of all my highlights, and put together a recruiting video. After that, I burned about 50 CD’s and wrote a cover letter and sent them out to every Big 12, Big 10, and SEC school I wanted to play for to try to get someone’s attention.”

After sending out his recruiting videos, AJ finally got the recognition he deserved from one of the best programs in college football.

“The first school that called me back was the University of Oklahoma.  And when my dad told me that they had called, I thought he was joking around.  They told me they wanted to offer me, and were going to fly up to my hometown to come meet me.  As fate would have it, the following week they had four linebackers commit in one week, so they filled up their entire class of linebackers.  Everything happens for a reason, and to have a school like Oklahoma show that level of interest in me was amazing.”

One of the next schools to contact AJ was Iowa State.

“A graduate assistant at the time, Coach Tom Howe, was the first coach at Iowa State to watch my recruiting video.  He told me he watched the first three plays then ran into then, head ISU football coach, Gene Chizik’s office to show him.

No more than two weeks later, AJ had received his first scholarship offer from the Iowa State Cyclones.  After that, the recruiting process started to slow down, and AJ didn't have many other schools showing interest.  Before visiting Iowa State, he visited one other school, Michigan State.

“I was expecting to get an offer from Michigan State, so I took a visit there with my family, and never ended up getting an offer.  I visited Iowa State during their Spring Game, and once I left, I knew it was the place for me.”

What made AJ fall in love with Iowa State was that it reminded him of his own hometown in a way.

“Everybody was so nice and so genuine, and I also liked how Ames was smaller and a true college town.  Everything about Ames as a town and the people and the history, it’s one of the most special combinations that you don’t find many other places across the country.”

During his time at Iowa State, AJ finished his career with 361 tackles; which ranks 4th among the Iowa State career tackles list.  He was also named the Co-Defensive Player of the Year in the Big 12 Conference.

“My experience at Iowa State was second to none. It was the best four years of my life, and we had some of the most memorable wins in school history. I made a lot of great friends and connections with people I still stay in touch with today. I am proud of what we accomplished as a group, and what we did for the program to help turn it around from where it was.”

When AJ first came to Iowa State, he never would have imagined earning such honors as he did.

“I never thought about that kind of stuff. I was more focused on self-improvement from year to year, and challenging myself to be the best player I could be.  Having the guys around me like Jake Knott and Jeremiah George, who also wanted to compete, helped me a lot.  Those awards were never on my mind. What was on my mind was helping my team win, and performing the best I could.

Of all of the things that AJ accomplished during his time at Iowa State, he says the thing he will be most proud of will come in the future once he graduates.  AJ returned to Iowa State in the off season after his rookie year to take a full class load.  He is two classes shy of receiving his degree in Kinesiology, Pre-Physical Therapy, which he plans on finishing either this Summer, or next Spring.

“After my senior season, I stopped taking classes my last semester in order to go train with XO Sports down in Pensacola, Florida.  I spent 3 months down there doing pre-Combine training, before the NFL Combine.  I wanted to do everything in my power to prepare to be the best I could at the Combine, to increase my draft Stock.”

AJ’s experience down in Pensacola was like nothing he had encountered before.

“I don’t think I’ve ever trained like that in my life before, and I haven't since. We worked out twice, sometimes three times a day, and our meals were all prepped for.  It was a great experience though to get away and compete with other people at your position.  The NFL puts so much stress on a player’s 40 yard run time, so we literally started from scratch with our running.  I was basically training to become a track athlete. We spent a lot of time on running technique, but we did a lot of work on strength training, like the bench press.  We did a lot of workouts of high repetition and high volume.”

The training down in Florida was taken very seriously in preparation for the NFL Combine.  It was one of the biggest events for AJ, and had the impact to either make or break his ability of playing in and having an NFL career.

“The NFL Combine was stressful.  It’s a nerve-wrecking experience.  They wake you up early, they keep you up late, and they do that every single night until the night before you have to train.  You’re running on four or five hours of sleep the day of the Combine, and you’re trying to perform at your peak.  They do it all for a reason, to see how people react under the stressful conditions, and how people physically perform in those conditions.  When the time finally does come to run your 40-yard dash, you try to relax and let your mind go black and just let your training take over.  The next think you know, is that it’s gone in a flash and you’re in training camp with an NFL team shortly after.”

AJ performed well at the Combine; running a 4.66 40-yard dash, but after spraining his right knee during field drills, he was unable to perform his vertical jump and a few other drills that hurt his draft stock.

“I was told, I was going to be taken in the 3rd round, as a Top-100 pick before the Combine, but the Combine really solidified that because there were questions about my speed and size.  The thing that hurt my draft stock was hurting my knee at the Combine, but everything happens for a reason, and I’m in a great place here with the Panthers.”

AJ was ultimately taken in the 5th Round as the 15th pick, 148th overall in the National Football League Draft.

“The first day of the draft was more me watching it for the fun of it.  I knew I wasn't going to be taken in the first or second round.  After I didn’t hear my name in the 3rd round, I was starting to get anxious. After the fourth round I started to think, ‘what the heck is going on here’ and was getting very emotionally drained.  By the time my name was picked, I wasn’t even paying attention to the draft, which I think was the funniest part. Right when I stopped caring about when I would get drafted, I get drafted.”

It didn’t take AJ much time getting used to the level of competition in the NFL.  In his first two seasons with the Carolina Panthers, AJ has totaled 43 tackles, 17 assisted tackles, and has had 2 sacks; one of which came against San Francisco 49ers quarterback, Colin Kaepernick.  His Panther team has also made the NFL playoffs his first two seasons.

“I’ve talked to guys on my team who have been in the league for almost 10 years, and have never been to the playoffs, so going to the playoffs doesn’t happen very often. Being able to go my first two years has been awesome.  If I could do that 10 more times in my career it wouldn’t be a bad deal at all.”

After talking with AJ, it was easy to tell how big of an impact Iowa State has made on his football career.  His favorite moment didn’t come from the big win over in-state rival Iowa, and it didn’t come from the biggest upset in school history over 2nd ranked Oklahoma State.  His favorite moment was his last game he got to play at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames.

“Even though we lost the game, my favorite moment was my last game at Jack Trice.  Walking on the field and having a standing ovation was an emotional day for me. I was holding back tears because that stadium and the fans meant so much to me.  That was my life for four years, and feeling that energy every time we played just makes me so thankful.  The town of Ames, the football program, and the school has molded and shaped me into the person I am today. It’s almost hard to describe, because that’s how passionate I am about the school.”

It’s obvious that the time AJ spent in Ames and his days playing for the Cyclones helped shape his way in to the NFL.  It will be great fun to see what new favorite lifetime memories are yet to be created for AJ as a Carolina Panther.  

Babb Brothers

Former Iowa State basketball player Chris Babb made recent news last week, after signing with the Boston Celtics.  Last Monday the Boston Celtics signed Babb to a multi-year deal after waiving Shavlik Randolph.  For the time being, Babb will stay with the Red Claws to help his team in the playoffs that began last Tuesday.  In the 45 games that Babb played in this season for Maine, he averaged 15.4 points, 5.5 rebounds and played over 34 minutes each game.  Babb and another former Cyclone Diante Garrett were each were selected for the 2015 D-League All-Star Game held back on February 15th.  Babb's new deal does not come with any guarantees, but it will keep him under Celtics control through the offseason and give him a chance to earn a roster spot for next season.

While Chris was making national headlines last week, younger brother Nick Babb made local headlines after announcing he would be transferring to Iowa State next year.  Nick is following in his brothers footsteps transferring to Iowa State like Chris when he left Penn State after his sophomore year.  Nick will have to sit out a year due to NCAA transfer rules, but will have 3 years of eligibility remaining.  Hopefully Nick can find success on the floor at Iowa State, and be the 3 and D specialist like Chris to help the Cyclones get back to another Sweet Sixteen or further.

Coming to America

Growing up in what was formerly known as Czechoslovakia, it was always the dream of European basketball players to have the opportunity to come play ball in the United States.  Julius Michalik began playing basketball at a very young age and he eventually went to sports school starting in 4th grade.

“Not a lot of people complained. If you were a young athlete you would start going to a sports school, and when I was in 4th grade I had my school all paid for, and my health care paid for.”

Once Julius reached high school, he began playing basketball for the Czechoslovakia Junior National Team, traveling all over Europe to play against some of the world’s best young athletes.

“We traveled all over Europe. We played in Italy, Belgium, Sweden, and even in North Korea. We probably played in every country in Europe. I really had a great childhood, and I don't think I would trade that for growing up anywhere else.”

Julius wasn’t a highly recruited player, but he finally landed some recognition after playing in a tournament with his national team in the Netherlands.  His hope of coming and playing basketball in America involved a fateful meeting in a gymnasium thousands of miles away from Ames, Iowa.  

“Really, I kind of lucked out.  There were two American basketball teams playing in the tournament, and one just so happened to be a high school select team from Iowa.  We ended up playing the Iowa team in the semi-finals.  Well, I had about 40 points in that semi-final game and we ended up winning the tournament and I was named the tournament MVP.”

Once the select team traveled home to Iowa, the head coach gave Iowa State Men’s Basketball Assistant Coach Ric Wesley, Julius’ name as a potential ISU recruit.  And as luck would have it, Coach Wesley’s grandparents were from the Czech Republic.  While visiting his family there, he also drove to Julius’ hometown of Prievidza, Slovakia, where the future Cyclone player and coach first met.

“It was very good when we first met.  We spent a lot of time in the gym, and I worked out for him.  We didn’t talk very much because I didn’t speak a lot of English at the time.  But it was all good because our national team went and played in the United States when I was a senior in high school.  One of the teams we played on this trip was the University of Iowa.  So after the game Coach Wesley picked me up in Iowa City, and drove me to Ames for my official visit. 

I stayed on campus overnight, and the next morning I flew to Milwaukee because we had another game against Marquette.  This was a great opportunity for me, because not a lot of 17 year olds had the chance to play against D1 athletes.”

One of the biggest things that sold Julius on coming to play basketball in the United States and play for Iowa State; a school he had never even heard of before, was his opportunity to play as a true college freshman.

“Growing up in Slovakia, everybody always wanted to go play in the United States, and play at a University, and I felt Iowa State was a really good situation for me.  The year before I got there, the team had about 6 or 7 senior’s graduate, so I was coming to play for basically a brand new team, and I knew I had a chance to play right away.”

And the final deciding factor of the little Czechoslovakian boy’s dream of playing basketball in the United States was being able to play for legendary basketball coach Johnny Orr.

“Coach Orr was definitely like a father figure to all of his players.  He chose his players for a reason.  If a player didn’t pan out on the court, it was never an option for him to cut them, or make them transfer, which is something you don’t see very often today.  Coach Orr was a big proponent of ‘I picked him so I am going to stay with him’, and if basketball doesn’t work out, they’re still getting a good education.”

Once Julius arrived in the United States, he quickly acclimated himself to Ames and the Iowa State campus.  There was a comfortable routine and built-in brotherhood being a member of the ISU basketball team.  As a true freshman, he came off the bench in the first five games, and after the win against in-state rival Iowa, Julius started every game alongside his roommate Fred Hoiberg, and freshman center, Loren Meyer.  

There was something great that immediately clicked between Julius and Fred.  Being roommates helped them play together on the court, and their time spent together away from practice helped Julius overcome his English language barrier.  And although they were each from two very different parts of the globe, their likenesses became evident. 

“Fred and I have very similar backgrounds.  His mom was a teacher; my mom was a teacher, so we were very similar in the way we were brought up.  We are also both very competitive, and we both work very hard.  But most importantly, we stayed out of trouble.  We would go to movies, we’d go to the high school basketball games, and a lot of times we’d just hang out at his house and watch TV.  We did watch a lot of TV together.  My favorite show in college was Matlock.  Now remember, that was about 20 years ago, so don’t judge me.  Fred’s favorite show was David Letterman, so we would always watch that as well.  But while I watched a show, I kept a dictionary in my hand and slowly learned and got better at English.”

While at Iowa State, Julius played on three NCAA Tournament teams.  Two of those tournament trips were under Head Coach Johnny Orr.  After Coach Orr retired, he returned to the Big Dance and played for his third time under new first-year coach, Tim Floyd.  Perhaps the Cyclones best team was during Julius’ junior year, when the pre-season ISU team was picked to finish 2nd in the Big 8.  Unfortunately, just eight games into the season, starting center Loren Meyer was hit by a train, which sidelined him for the remainder of the season with a broken collar bone.

“It was a great experience playing in the NCAA Tournament.  I wish it could have been four times, but it was always bad for us because we were always an 8 or 9 seed, so we’d have to play a really tough team in the 2nd round.”

The three seasons Julius is referring to playing in the NCAA Tournament, are made of great trips down the March Madness memory lane.  The 1991-1992 Iowa State team lost to the #2 seed Kentucky Wildcats coached by Rick Pitino.  A year later, the Cyclones were knocked out of the tournament by the UCLA Bruins.  And in his last tourney trip during the 1994-1995 season, Iowa State team lost to the University of North Carolina team led by Rasheed Wallace and Jerry Stackhouse.  Both Wallace and Stackhouse were top 5 draft picks in the 1995 NBA draft.

Julius did as Coach Orr expected, and graduated from Iowa State with a degree in Liberal Arts.  He went un-drafted during the 1995 NBA Draft.

“That year was a bad year to enter the draft because there were a lot of underclassmen drafted that year, which was unheard of at the time.”

The 1995 NBA Draft featured eleven underclassmen, four of which were taken in the Top 5.  There were also two Cyclones drafted.  Loren Meyer was selected in the 1st Round as the 24^th pick to the Dallas Mavericks.  Fellow teammate Fred Hoiberg was drafted in the 2nd round with the 52nd pick to the Indiana Pacers.  

Not being drafted by the NBA lead Julius to make the lifetime milestone decision to return to Europe and play professional basketball throughout Europe.  For the next eight years, Julius traveled through France, Belgium, Israel, Spain and Italy playing the sport he loved, and getting paid for it.

In 2003, Julius returned to the United States with his wife Amy, whom he met at Iowa State and was a member of the ISU Marching and Pep bands.  Julius went on to earn and receive his teaching degree from Buena Vista University and became certified to teach Chemistry, Physics, Biology, and General Science.  He began teaching and coaching boys’ basketball at Harlan High School, where he coached his teams to two straight state championship titles.  He then became the girls’ varsity basketball coach, and boys’ varsity soccer coach at Tri-Center, where he just finished his 11th year of coaching.  Julius definitely found a passion for teaching and coaching, but it does come with some challenges when you are in a smaller school district.

“College coaches have the opportunity to recruit, but in high school there is really nothing you can do about it.  Nobody is going to move into a smaller district in the middle of nowhere, so you just play with the players you have, and some years you have more talent than others.”

Julius still keeps in touch with his old roommate and friend Fred Hoiberg. The two play golf with each other during the summer, and also attend Iowa State football games.  Julius also tries to make it back to a couple of the Cyclone basketball games each year.  Attending a game in person at Hilton while coaching during the high school basketball season makes it tough when his teams are also playing twice a week.  

“It’s a lot easier for me to just sit in front of the big screen TV at home, than to drive two hours to Ames, then another two hours back.  But I do watch all of the games I can at home.”

One of Julius’ favorite games and ISU memories involves a game he played in at Hilton during his freshman year against Oklahoma State.  The team trailed by 18 points at one time in the game and Iowa State ended up winning in overtime, which at the time, was the biggest Cyclone comeback in school history.  

“If you ever hear Fred talk about that game, he swears he felt the floor vibrating and shaking because the place was so loud during the missed free throws, so that was probably hands down the loudest game at Hilton.”

It was games like those that produced some of the well-known “Magic” and home court advantage of playing in Hilton Coliseum.  Cyclone fans definitely caught a glimpse of how good they can be during the Big Monday night game against the Oklahoma Sooners on ISU’s Senior Night.  That game, in many ways, was like the comeback victory Julius played in his freshman year against Oklahoma State.  

This time around, the Cyclones trailed Oklahoma by 21 points at one time in the second half.  Don’t believe in Magic?  Then you’ve probably never had the privilege of watching a game inside Hilton Coliseum.  With mental toughness, sheer will and a little of that Magic, Iowa State went on a 22-0 run, to win in regulation 77-70.  

Many fans would argue that Monday night’s game against OU was the best and the loudest game they ever saw played or ever heard Hilton.  Unbelievable, yes; but then again anything is possible in Hilton.    

  

If the Cyclones can play like they did in the last 15 minutes of that Oklahoma game, then they can compete with any team in the country.  The trail of Hilton Magic will begin to glitter all the way down I-35 as the Big 12 Men’s Basketball Championship starts next week in Kanas City.  Thousands of loyal Cyclone fans will make the annual pilgrimage to the Sprint Center, dubbed ‘Hilton South’ to cheer on the team, all of them bringing some of that Hilton Magic.  In the toughest conference in the country, hopes remain high to repeat last year’s outcome and retain the Big 12 Tournament Championship Trophy and help their seeding in the NCAA tournament.  

As far as this year’s Men’s ISU basketball team is concerned Julius thinks the team can get back to the Sweet 16 and go even further this year.  The biggest factor for this talented team will be not making mental errors and committing turnovers down the stretch.  

Julius has this final observation.  “When the team is really dialed in, they are really tough to beat.”  

With that being said, let the madness begin!

Tying the Knott

As Jake Knott prepares himself for the upcoming NFL season with the Miami Dolphins, he finds himself back in the place where his college career began.  When I asked him why he decided to return to Ames, Iowa for his offseason training, his answer made a lot of sense. 

“I tried working out with the Eagles last year, but it was pretty difficult because the NFL has a lot of rules in place where you can’t get much coaching or help.  So I decided to come back and get the help and training from Clayton Oyster (Iowa State University’s Director of Strength and Conditioning).  He’s really gotten my body back in shape, and I appreciate everything he’s done.  He really knows my strengths and weaknesses as a player, and if I had gone anywhere else, they would have to take the time to get to know me. Since I already have that relationship with Clayton; it just made things a lot easier.”

Now Jake has dedicated this offseason to turning his weaknesses into strengths. 

“Once I got to the NFL, I really saw the ‘why’ behind everything I did, and how I was getting prepared for the season, which also prepared me mentally."

Jake’s football career really took off in high school where he graduated from Waukee, Iowa, back in 2009.  His senior year of high school he was the 9th ranked football prospect in the state and was also named to the Elite All-State Team in class 4A.  He recorded 99 tackles (7 for a loss) 3 sacks and 2 interceptions.  Not only was he a star on the football field, but he also lettered in track & field and baseball, where he had offers from both University of Iowa and the University of Northern Iowa.  With great numbers like Jake had, you’d probably think he had some great offers from some big time schools; but that wasn’t the case at all.

“I had offers from just about all of the Division 1 AA schools like Northern Iowa, Western Illinois, North Dakota and South Dakota, but I wasn’t excited or anxious to go to any of those schools.  I also had the offers from Iowa and UNI for baseball, and Nebraska told me they would give me a scholarship if I went and played at a JUCCO for a year.  I really wanted an offer from Iowa or Iowa State, and my mind was set to go to either of those schools, depending on who offered first.”

During his high school senior year, Jake was left with a huge decision on whether he wanted to play baseball or football, and what school he wanted to attend.

“Baseball is definitely a passion of mine and I enjoy playing it, but the way football is scheduled and the amount of games per year, and the following of fans and the action on the field; I could imagine myself without baseball, but not the other way around.  It was always a factor of which one could I not live without, not which sport I enjoyed most at the time. I do miss baseball. In fact I was hitting the other night in our practice facility where the softball team practices. I started out a little rusty then finally got in a little groove.”

With just two weeks before national signing day for college football, Jake was scheduled to meet with new Iowa State head coach Paul Rhoads.

“I didn’t have a scholarship yet that I was very interested in taking and was definitely freaking out a bit.  When I met with coach Rhoads he offered me a scholarship and I automatically idolized this guy for giving me this opportunity.  I would definitely do anything for him because it took this huge weight off my shoulders. That meeting with him was a great first impression.  I went through college doing what he told me to do because I knew this was a guy who had given me an opportunity of a lifetime, so I needed to treat it as such and make sure I was always doing what he wanted and try to lead the team in the best way possible because I was one of his first recruits.”

Another big factor that weighed into Jake’s decision was being able to stay in Iowa.

“Looking back now, it was awesome to play at Iowa State being from Iowa. I don’t think it could have been any better with the support system I had, and knowing people I went to high school with who now attended the same college as me.”

One of the best parts about Jake’s career at Iowa State came during his senior year when his younger brother Luke, was offered a scholarship to play at Iowa State as well.  Even though the brothers never had the chance to play in an actual game together, since Luke redshirted his freshman year, Jake did say it was a great experience to have his brother at ISU with him.

“We have an interesting story on how we moved up to Iowa from Kansas City, and I decided to stay in Iowa for my senior year of high school, while my parents moved back to Kansas City.  It really separated me and my family when Luke went back to school at Lee’s Summit West High School, so we never had a chance to play sports with each other. When he got the scholarship offer to come to Iowa State, I was the proudest big brother ever. I was finally going to be able to spend time with him, and if anything, make his college experience a little bit better. This is something that I had already lived and I tried to help him out because that kind of stuff makes me happy and I enjoy doing that for him even though I’m tough on him sometimes, like any big brother.  It was definitely an awesome experience, and it’s been awesome to be able to come back and watch him play, which makes me appreciate Iowa State and the game of football even more.”

Jake first started offering his brother advice on certain workouts his brother should do to prepare himself for college.  Once Luke got to ISU, Jake even helped Luke by telling him the best places to eat, where to park for certain classes, and the fastest route to take for his classes.

“It started in high school where I would always stay on top of him about working out and how important it was to do certain types of workouts to get ready for college, so it wasn’t such a big transition.  I think his senior year he really took that to heart and started doing all the hard things that suck, but the things you have to do to be successful. He really changed his mind set and became an extremely hard working player.”

When Jake first arrived at Iowa State he only wanted to play on special teams.  It was coaches like Paul Rhoads, Wally Burnham, and Clayton Oyster who had a huge impact on Jake’s football career.

“It was because of them that I realized I had a shot to play in the NFL. In high school I couldn’t have imagined that. I started to spend more time focusing on football once I got to college.”

As a true freshman Jake played in every game for the Cyclones.

“My sophomore year I wanted to play a lot more on defense instead of special teams. When I first started and did pretty well, then I really wanted to start understanding everything there is to know about defense.  My junior year it got even more advanced, and my senior year was when I finally realized I can play with these guys in the NFL.  I watched them and I understood what they were doing on defense, and why they were doing it.”

All of this came from the strength and conditioning from Clayton, and the mental side of the game from Wally and coach Rhoads.  Playing against the great Big 12 competition year after year, and some of the country’s best athletes like Robert Griffin III who was the 2011 Heisman Trophy winner, DeMarco Murray who was just named the NFL’s Offensive Player of the Year, and Justin Blackmon who was the Biletnikoff Award winner two consecutive years helped prepare Jake for the NFL.  

Iowa State fans might recall the 2011 Oklahoma State game, which is the biggest football upset in Cyclone history.  In the second overtime of that game, Jake deflected a pass intended for OSU’s Justin Blackmon that was intercepted by ISU’s Ter’Ran Benton.  That tip and interception helped seal the victory over the nation’s 2nd ranked Cowboys.

As great as the upset over Oklahoma State was, Jake’s favorite game as a Cyclone was against Iowa his senior year; where he intercepted a pass with only 1:11 left in the game to help guarantee yet another Iowa State victory.

“Being an in-state guy and knowing the importance of the rivalry between Iowa and having the interception at the end of the game just made it even sweeter.”

The University of Iowa flirted with Jake throughout his recruiting process, when they began recruiting him as a sophomore in high school.

“They told me they wanted to offer me, and that they would eventually offer me, but I just kept waiting and nothing happened. I always thought an offer would come, which it never did, but I couldn't be happier on how things turned out.”

As Jake made his transition from college to the NFL he quickly saw the huge difference.

“My first season with the Eagles was a lot of fun, it was stressful.   I met a lot of great people, but I grew a lot as a person and a football player. I really started to see the business side of football, and with that you start making decisions like coming back to Iowa State to train in the off-season.  I realized that now you’re competing with other guys for a spot, but a paycheck as well.  I had to be able to put food on my family’s table, and also realized I could be taking away food from some guy’s family basically.  So it was a lot more intense."

One of the coolest moments Jake talked about was how the Eagles then-quarterback; Michael Vick knew his name by the second day of camp.

“Here I am, an undrafted guy sitting in the locker room, and Mike walks by and was just like ‘Hey Jake, what’s up man?’  He’s probably the nicest guy in the world.  You see all these NFL players on TV and you have a media impression of these guys, then you finally get to see how they really act.”

Probably the biggest change in Jake’s life after Iowa State is his engagement with his now fiancé, Johnnie Jindrich. 

“It’s definitely different to think of yourself as becoming a married man soon, but she is handling most of the wedding planning, and I’m nodding yes to everything she suggests.”

Jake proposed on Johnnie’s birthday while the two were on vacation in the Turks and Caicos.  Their wedding is planned for June and Jake said he was more nervous for the proposal than he was for his first NFL game.

“Football I love, but she is part of my life, and football is just a game. If you go drew something up on the field, it sucks but you get over it and make up for it on the next play. This is our life together, and was something I did not want to mess up. I wanted it to be as perfect as it possibly could be for her because she deserves it.  I didn’t want to have to tell our kids someday that I did something stupid or said something stupid during the proposal.”

Johnnie has now become one of Jake’s biggest motivations as he focuses on his upcoming season in Miami with the Dolphins.

“I have a drive to succeed and the fear of failure.  Now failure means I’m out of a job and on the streets and I don’t want that to ever happen. I don’t want to put my fiancé or have my family not have the income I was hoping to have, but I also want to keep playing the game of football because it’s awesome.”

The Iowa State football team has lost some of its glory day swagger since Jake and his fellow teammates A.J. Klein and Josh Lenz graduated to the NFL.  The Cyclones have really struggled in their last few years to put together a winning season and return to a post-season bowl game.  So what will it take for Iowa State to get back to being a competitive football team in the Big 12? Jake thinks the players are hungry again and it’s just a matter of time before the Cyclones have a positive season.

“They saw a little bit of success my junior and senior year, and some of the guys coming in didn’t realize what it took right away.  Now these guys are getting a better grasp on that and hopefully see that change and turn it around this year.  They’ve had this losing taste in their mouth for so long, and I can tell that this is a very hungry group of individuals who are sick of losing.  Once they work a little harder and put in the extra time and effort the wins will come.”

It’s safe to say that Jake’s biggest focus right now is on his NFL football career and his approaching wedding and married life with Johnnie in Miami.  He hasn’t given much thought on what he’d like to do professionally after his NFL football career is over, but when that time comes, you can be sure that it will again be something he’s extremely passionate about.    

“It’ll be an interesting decision, once the time comes.”

Introduction

My name is Grant Zieser, and I am a die hard Iowa State Cyclones fan.  I wanted to start a blog about former standout athletes at Iowa State and what they are doing now.  One of my first interviews will be with former Iowa State Quarterback Chris Pedersen, who is the last Cyclone to beat Oklahoma in Norman.  Another scheduled interview is with former Linebacker Jake Knott, who recently signed with the Miami Dolphins.