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.”