Issue link: http://catalog.e-digitaleditions.com/i/375157
23 N ate Kaeding can look back and celebrate the body of work he assembled as kicker at the University of Iowa from 2000-03. at wasn't always the case. He learned not to dwell on awards as a high school athlete at Iowa City (Iowa) West High School, where his head foot- ball coach was Reese Morgan. Morgan currently coaches defensive line at the University of Iowa. "e way I was brought up was that complacency is one of the biggest demons out there and it can knock you down pretty quick," said Kaeding, one of six being inducted into the National Iowa Varsity Club Hall of Fame's Class of 2014. "If I won an All-America award or Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week, I couldn't sit there and dwell on it. I had to ignore all that stuff. at can be as big of a detriment of future success as adversity or failure. A lot of guys get ruined by their success." Kaeding holds UI records for points in a career (373), points in a season (120), consecutive made field goals (22), PATs made in a career (167), and PATs made in a season (57). Included in his record-setting point total is one touchdown -- a 5-yard run from field goal position against Ohio State in 2003. An all-around athlete -- as a senior in high school, Kaeding was team captain of three sports that won state champion- ships (football, basketball, soccer) -- he grew up spending more time in Carver-Hawkeye Arena than Kinnick Sta- dium. His father enjoyed basketball and his grandfather coached basketball at Muscatine (Iowa) High School. "I was a big fan of Chris Kingsbury, Chris Street, Andre Woolridge and that era when (UI) coach (Tom) Davis had the thing rocking and rolling pretty good," Kaeding said. "I only went to one or two games in Kinnick as a kid. But I re- member in the fall, raking leaves and playing football in the yard, listening to (WHO broadcasters Jim) Zabel and Poddy (Ed Podolak) on a radio with bunny ears." When Kaeding enrolled at the UI, his goal was modest: he wanted to earn the Hawkeyes' starting kicking job. By the time he finished, he had put his foot to some of the biggest kicks in school history. He scored 13 points in a 19-16 win over Texas Tech in the 2001 Alamo Bowl -- the program's first postseason victory since 1996. e game-winning 47-yarder came with 44 seconds remaining. "You wait for those end-of-the game things and when they happen, they come around quick," Kaeding said. "I ran out there, was able to get a good hit on it, and it was pandemo- nium aer that. at win gave us a lot of confidence because we were a young team and pretty much everybody was coming back." e next three seasons, the Hawkeyes finished 11-2, 10-3 and 10-2 with wins in the Outback and Capital One bowls. Another Kaeding favorite occurred at Wisconsin in 2003. It was raining and 15 seconds remained before halime. University of Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz called timeout. Wisconsin head coach Barry Alvarez called timeout. Alva- rez called another timeout. Four seconds later, Kaeding con- nected on a 50-yard field goal, pulling the Hawkeyes within four points in a game they won, 27-21. (Kaeding concluded the scoring with a 28-yard field goal in the fourth quarter). "As a kicker, you're expected to make every kick every time -- it's only a success if you don't make a mistake," Kaeding said. "For some people that can be daunting, but I enjoyed the challenge." Kaeding received the Lou Groza Award as the best collegiate placekicker in 2002. He was first-team All-Big Ten and All- America in 2002 and 2003. "It is so unusual when one of your kickers is a strong team leader and that was Nate," Ferentz said. "We thought he would be a good player, but it would be unrealistic to think any player was going to have a career like Nate had at Iowa. We thought he was a good prospect, but he had a Hall of Fame career. It is so fitting that he is being honored this way." Kaeding played nine seasons in the NFL with San Diego and Miami. He converted 181 of 210 field goal attempts and his 86.2 success rate is second-best in NFL history behind Mike Vanderjagt (86.5). While playing a part in small businesses in Iowa City (Shorts Burger & Shine, Tailgate Clothing Company), Kaed- ing has returned to the UI and is on pace to graduate in May 2015 with a master's degree in business administration from Henry B. Tippie College of Business. "Getting back in school kind of re-engineers the mind aer spending the first decade of my professional career kicking a football between two poles," Kaeding said. Kaeding resides in Iowa City with his wife Samantha and children Jack (6-years-old), Wyatt (4), and Tess (21 months). e entire family will share his most recent achievement. "is looks back on the entirety of my career," Kaeding said. "e university means a lot to me, so to be able to join that elite group is pretty neat."