Iowa football: 3 Hawks on College Football Hall of Fame ballot

The Iowa football team already has eleven members in the College Football Hall of Fame. Could they add three more this year?

The Iowa football team could potentially have three new members inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame on December 8 as part of this 2020 class. Dallas Clark, Tim Dwight, and Andre Tippett will represent the Hawkeyes on the ballot, with voting ending on June 21.

Dallas Clark

Dallas Clark is arguably the greatest tight end to ever walk through the doors of the Iowa football program. No offense to the recent string of tight ends that have on to the NFL after terrific collegiate careers at Iowa, but Clark was a man among boys in his two seasons at Iowa. He hauled in 81 receptions for 1,281 yards with 8 touchdowns between the 2001 and 2002 seasons.

For his efforts in the 2002 season, he was given the Mackey Award, was named a unanimous All-American and made the first-team All-Big Ten team.

He also had the best professional career of the three guys being drafted with the 24th pick in the first round of the 2003 NFL Draft by the Indianapolis Colts. Clark was one of Peyton Manning‘s favorite targets racking up 427 receptions for 4,887 yards and 46 touchdowns in his 9 seasons with the Colts.

Tim Dwight

Former Iowa wide receiver and return man Tim Dwight was a human highlight reel during his time on campus. Dwight arrived as a running back but after a freshman season that saw him carry the ball just 13 times, he made the switch to wide receiver.

The move had an enormous return on investment for the Hawkeyes as Dwight would go on to haul in 127 receptions for 2,075 yards with 21 touchdowns in his final three seasons. In his junior and season years, he was a prolific punt returner averaging 19.0 and 19.3 yards per return in 1996 and 1997, respectively. He returned 2 touchdowns in 1996 and 3 in 1997.

He was considered to be undersized for the NFL but was drafted in the fourth round by the Atlanta Falcons. It was perfect timing as the Falcons appeared in the Super Bowl after the 1998 season. Dwight had five kick returns in that game and took one to the house for 94 yards while averaging an absurd 42.0 yards per return in that game, which still stands as a Super Bowl record.

Andre Tippett

Tippett was an All-American defense end between the years of 1979 and 1981. He was captain of a defense that allowed just 129 points in the 1981 season. That defense also allowed just 253 yards per game and 78 total yards against Northwestern.

Tippett was drafted in the second round of the 1982 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots. He played his entire 11-year career with the team and racked up 100.0 sacks and 19 fumble recoveries. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2008.

As previously noted, voting will end on June 21 with the winners being inducted on December 8 at the National Football Foundations’ annual awards.