PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Iowa football players and their fans, often joined by the opposing team and their traveling fans, will turn and wave to patients at the University of Iowa Children’s Hospital. And with his team set to play at Iowa on Saturday, Rutgers football head coach Greg Schiano is all on board for his team to participate.
It started off rather simply six years ago when Iowa fans turned from inside Kinnick Stadium and waved to the patients inside the University of Iowa Children’s Hospital. The Hospital, located across the street from the football stadium, has a tremendous overlook view of Iowa games.
Patients and their families will often gather in the windows to watch Iowa games. It has now become a tradition for fans at the end of the first quarter to wave at the fans in a show of encouragement and love.
And Schiano, who usually doesn’t embrace distractions, is all for this. He sees it as much bigger than football.
“I’ve been a part of it. It’s a powerful thing. You know, the children’s hospital is up above looking down at the stadium and all the windows are lit up and you can see all that all the kids in their windows and if what we do, if that can give some joy to some young people that are struggling and their families, right?” Schiano said on Wednesday after practice.
“I mean, anybody who’s got kids knows (that) you’re only as happy as your saddest kid.”
The team will be briefed about the first-quarter tradition prior to their flight out for Saturday’s game.
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Schiano, usually hyper-focused on the game, wants to see his team participate in the wave.
“Yeah, absolutely. I’m gonna explain it to them. And I don’t do it now, I do that before we head out of here,” Schiano said.
“And our Friday meeting, we have a meeting where we go over the logistics of the trip, and I’ll go over that with them. And I think it’s one of the great traditions in college football that has nothing to do with pumping up your own self but all about serving others. So it’s it’s awesome.”
Last year when Iowa visited Rutgers, the fans at SHI Stadium sent a wave back to the Iowa Children’s Hospital.
The Iowa Wave from Piscataway, New Jersey đź‘‹
cc: @HawkeyeFootball @Rutgers pic.twitter.com/kzA764r4tl
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 24, 2022
Rutgers (6-3, 3-3 Big Ten) will play Iowa (7-2,4-2 Big Ten) on Saturday at 3:30 PM ET. The game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.