Iowa football: Hawks who could play for a local AAF team

Drew Ott

Drew Ott was somewhat of a legend in his time with the Iowa football program. The three-year starter at defensive end was as unique off the field as he was on it. Off the field, Ott was a character once eating a raw egg at Big Ten media day his senior year. On the field, he was a terror at defensive end.

In just 29 games of action spanning the final three years of his career with the Hawks, Ott racked up 15.5 sacks and 26.5 tackles for loss in addition to his 121 total tackles and 5 forced fumbles.

Unfortunately, injuries derailed Ott’s senior season and an application for a medical redshirt was denied, something that evidently bugs head coach Kirk Ferentz to this day as he made note of it in his February 6th press conference. When asked about college transfers he said this:

"It’s about two years too late on a couple of them, or three years too late on a couple of them from my vantage point. Let me say this, I’m still ticked off about Drew Ott. I’m for a kid. If he has a compelling reason to become eligible, I’m all for it. I’m not mad at the institutions; they’re just trying to win."

After missing most of his senior season, Ott was expected to be picked up by an NFL team once healthy, but the contract never came despite teams showing interest in the 6’4” 272-pound defensive end.

The AAF would provide Ott the ideal opportunity to prove to NFL teams that he is fully healthy and that he is back to dominating offensive lines as he did in college. At the age of 26, there is still time left for him to renew his NFL dreams.