Tag: Hawkeye Wave

Iowa brought its heartwarming Hawkeye Wave to the Music City Bowl, and the crowd loved it

Awww.

The Hawkeye Wave found its way to Nashville during Saturday’s Music City Bowl.

The beloved football tradition has always given those at Iowa’s Kinnick Stadium a chance to wave and give support to those watching the game right next door at UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital.

While Iowa’s bowl game against Kentucky was far away from home in Tennessee, those present at Nissan Stadium still found a heartwarming way to keep the tradition alive on the road.

As is custom at the end of the first quarter, everyone in Nashville waved from afar to all those watching on television at the children’s hospital. It’s just such a lovely sight to see to close your 2022.

Warm feelings abounded during that incredibly touching moment.

It’s always nice to see football fans come together and recognize something bigger than what’s happening on the field, which is what the Hawkeye Wave has always represented.

Nice job, everyone!

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‘It’s a neat tradition’: South Dakota State, John Stiegelmeier honored to take part in Hawkeye Wave

South Dakota State head football coach John Stiegelmeier said the Hawkeye Wave is “a neat tradition” and his team is honored to take part.

One of the best traditions in college football is the Hawkeye Wave. When the Kinnick Stadium clock hits zero at the end of the first quarter, 70,000-plus fans in attendance divert their attention from the football field to the UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital. In unison, fans wave to the pediatric patients and their families to symbolize that their fight—and life itself—is bigger than football.

South Dakota State head football coach John Stiegelmeier is well versed in the Iowa Hawkeyes’ tradition and said his team will embrace it.

“Well, it’s a neat tradition, and so it’s again an honor and it’ll be I think very meaningful to be part of it. You know, we do things like that. When we have our barefoot game, our guys take their shoes off at the end of the game and their socks off and we try to raise funds for Samaritan’s Feet and things like that. So, we don’t do that tradition, but we have things like that in our program that we’re more than just student-athletes, so it’ll be good. We practiced it. We practice everything, so we practiced that already and so nothing will surprise us,” Stiegelmeier said this week as his team prepares to visit Iowa City.

Indeed, Stiegelmeier and South Dakota State have helped raise money for Samaritan’s Feet in the past. For those unfamiliar, Samaritan’s Feet is a humanitarian relief organization that puts shoes on the feet of children all around the world. Their mission is to serve and inspire hope in children by providing shoes as the foundation to a spiritual and healthy life resulting in the advancement of education and economic opportunities.

At Iowa, over the course of this offseason, fans decided that the song played during the Hawkeye Wave should be left up to the kids to decide. Now, the Kid Captain at every home game will choose the song to accompany the Hawkeye Wave.

Even as a pair of long-tenured, highly successful college football head coaches in Stiegelmeier and Kirk Ferentz get set to try and capture a season-opening victory, it’s great to see a pair of head coaches for both programs embrace causes that are larger than football.

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Hawkeye Wave song to be chosen by Kid Captain each week

After asking Iowa fans what the new Hawkeye Wave song should be, the perfect choice was made. It’s now the Kid Captain’s choice each week.

The Hawkeye Wave has grown into the best tradition in all of college football. This offseason, Iowa reached out to the fans to vote on what song should be played moving forward. The resounding decision: have the kids within the hospital decide.

After all, this is about them. The wave is to show their fight, show the support the entire world has for them, and give them those special moments. That is exactly what is happening. The kids will choose the song played during the Hawkeye Wave each home game.

“The interest and passion for the Hawkeye Wave cannot be overstated, and the selflessness of the Hawkeye community proved once again why the Wave is the greatest tradition in college sports,” said Peter Matthes, vice president for external relations and senior advisor to the president. “The response for a new song was incredible, and one suggestion we continued to hear was, ‘Let the kids decide.’ So that is exactly what we will do.

“We felt after five years it was time for the fans to choose the song for the Hawkeye Wave, and the fans suggested we extend that honor to the children. The children are the true heroes, so the choice is theirs. That is something we can all agree on, and I cannot thank our fans enough for their input, engagement, and generosity.”

The Hawkeye Wave has been in existence for the last five seasons and every week it sees every fan in Kinnick, every Hawkeye player and coach, and every opposing player and coach turn to face the UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital in a sign of unity to support those kids.

Every Hawkeyes home game there is a Kid Captain that is involved with the coin flip, meeting the team, and enjoying an unforgettable day. To top it off, the Kid Captain will now be selecting what special song they want to play during the Hawkeye Wave in between the first and second quarters.

An already extraordinarily special tradition just received another layer of meaning.

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Former Iowa Hawkeye Dalles Jacobus releases touching song ‘We Wave’

Former Iowa Hawkeyes offensive lineman Dalles Jacobus has released his song “We Wave” in an extremely special and touching tribute.

As I write this I am not sure if words can do justice to how special this song is. But it needs to be talked about and it needs to be mentioned for so many reasons that are bigger than football.

Former Iowa Hawkeye Dalles Jacobus has officially released “We Wave” on all streaming platforms, including Spotify. The words and what they mean to so many is touching, powerful, and many more adjectives.

The Hawkeye Wave has quickly become the best tradition in college sports and arguably all of sports. Every single home game, 70,000 strong turn to the UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital and the world stops for a few minutes.

Regardless of their fandom, every fan inside Kinnick Stadium and both teams put aside football and realize something much bigger. Everyone realizes life and seeing those children’s smiles are both so much bigger and more important than football. Jacobus put that emotion into every word of his song and reminds us what it really is all about.

Having the opportunity to experience this tradition is special and something to treasure once you do it. Seeing the giant yellow foam fingers wave back from those windows that are lined with handmade posters from the children is unexplainable. Knowing those kids are smiling down because the world is focused on them brings a tear to your eye. It means the world to those kids and their families that even in their fight, there is hope and a huge fanbase pulling for them.

Jacobus put these emotions into words for every Hawkeye fan, former player, and everyone who has been part of the Hawkeye Wave in their life. Give it a listen, set aside the busy rush of life, and remember what it’s all about.

The University of Iowa recently asked fans for their input in selecting the next song for the Hawkeye Wave. Given his history with the program and the message of his song, Jacobus’ track should merit consideration.

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