Some of you may know I have a tie to the Iowa program. I have hinted at it and toyed with it, but out of respect for him, I haven’t outwardly said that my little brother is a member of the Iowa Hawkeyes.
Until today. That changes a bit. My little brother, Nolan Donald, is a senior at Iowa right now. This week is a bit bittersweet for me if I am being honest. Bitter due to it being the final time he will suit up inside Kinnick. Sweet because he gets to reap the rewards of the immense effort, time, and sacrifice he has put in. That is what I want to talk about. His hard work has been so quietly done and always so dedicated that even though I am four years older, I truly feel that I get to look up to my younger brother and it’s one of the best things in the world.
It hasn’t been easy to get to this day. In fact, it has been an absolute grind. Not just the four years at Iowa, either. Your grind started when you were just a kid.
When we were just kids, our youngest sister, Sophia, passed away in a car accident. Nothing prepares you for that. There is no playbook to handle that, no scheme you can run, nothing. It was life-changing. There was really a turning point of letting it keep each other down or leaning on one another to keep going.
What that did do, though, is bring you, our sister Livia, and myself closer than ever and create a bond that doesn’t even have adjectives to describe how strong it is. It taught us we need each other. And it taught us how to persevere through the hardest of adversities that life can give you. One thing I can tell you, as well, is that Sophia has been at Kinnick with you every single time. You have her angel wings on your right arm and you have her sitting on your shoulder every game.
Life and football are two different things, but it can sort of encapsulate how your career at Iowa has went. There was the broken foot that required surgery two years ago. You got the surgery and kept moving forward. That is until December of 2021.
I’ll never forget when you called me and told me the news. You tore your ACL right before the Big Ten Championship game. My heart sank for you as surgery was required and traveling to the game was off the table. Rather than sulking, you called me up and told me to do whatever it takes to get to Indy and be there.
I wanted to come home to watch it with you, but you weren’t having it. You wanted me in Indy to support Iowa and stay true to a cause bigger than yourself. It wasn’t about you, and you never made it about you, even in the moments you were what mattered most. That’s special.
It all culminates for you this Friday when you get your moment inside Kinnick Stadium. So many memories come to mind. The time we were playing backyard football as kids and tackled each other into the fence, taking down 10 yards of the new fence that had just been put in.
Every Saturday you would get up early after playing your high school games on Friday night and travel the Midwest to watch me play and Livia cheerlead while we were at Augustana College. And now every single Saturday we have gotten to enjoy with you during this ride at Iowa.
Seeing you choose to go to Iowa as a walk-on and give it everything has shown me what it looks like to be dedicated to something bigger than yourself. You have stuck with it, regardless of the circumstances, and done something so few people can say that they did.
You taught me what it looks like to have a dream, reach for that dream, and go get that dream. You are living your dream of being a Big Ten football player who will graduate with a degree. No one can take it. You went out and made your dream happen.
So, when Friday rolls around and you suit up in that 22, just know that even though I am your older brother, you have taught me so much and I look up to you.
I had some tears on my Senior Day at Augie. I had some tears writing this. I know I will have some tears on Friday. I am so proud of your hard work. I am so proud of you. I love you, 22.
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