Bob Sanders
Bob Sanders will always be revered by Iowa football fans because of his play style. Despite his diminutive size (5’8” and 206 pounds), Sanders was an absolute terror to opposing teams’ offenses.
In four seasons with the Iowa football team, Sanders was named Honorable Mention All-Big Ten once and First Team All-Big Ten three times while also being named Second Team All-American after the 2003 season. He would also finish his career 11th in tackles for the Hawkeyes. His Hawkeye career was good enough for us to name him the best defensive back in the Kirk Ferentz era.
After Sander’s stellar Hawkeyes career, he was selected second round by the Indianapolis Colts. Although injuries took a big toll on Sander’s career, he had a few outstanding seasons. In eight seasons, he only played more than six games twice, but those two seasons were fantastic.
In 2005 and 2007 in almost full seasons, Sanders was named an All-Pro, Pro Bowler, and the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year.
After retiring from the NFL, Sanders has mostly laid low spending time with his wife and four kids. Recently though, he has been elected to two different Hall of Fames. First, he was elected to the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame and then last summer he was elected to the Iowa Hawkeyes Sports Hall of Fame.