Issue link: http://catalog.e-digitaleditions.com/i/89746
Wiegmann: The 1st ANF Hawkeye By Rick Klatt Casey Wiegmann remembers it well. "Good things happen to good people, " Ed Thomas, Casey's high school football coach, told him one summer day in his hometown of Parkersburg. That is part of the answer to the question of how one goes from being a young boy growing up in rural Iowa to a successful man with a record-setting 16-year career in the National Football League? That is the path taken by Wiegmann, a product of Thomas' football program at Aplington-Parkersburg High School. Wiegmann earned honorable mention All-Big Ten status at the University of Iowa before embarking on an NFL career that included a record-setting string of consecutive starts for the Kansas City Chiefs. Drive, determination, persistence, patience, and a "can-do" attitude… "Casey was a natural choice as the first inductee. He is a role model for other student-athletes who understand the importance of persevering and always Ask Wiegmann, who was honored by the Iowa Farm Bureau and the UI Athletics Department earlier this month at the UI's second annual ANF Day at Kinnick Stadium, and he will tell you that it has a lot to do with growing up in a town that was, and still is, influenced by the state of Iowa's largest economic force: Agriculture. "I didn't grow up on a farm, but my father has worked at John Deere for 37 years. I grew up around farmers and those in the business of farming. I know how hard they work day-in and day-out. They set a great example for the rest of us to follow, "When you talk about work ethic and character, and what it means to be an Iowan, Casey Wiegmann is your choice any day of the week," Denny Presnall, executive director of the Iowa Farm Bureau said during a news conference inside the Paul W. Brechler Press Box. "It's not as important to have a farmer sitting up here today. Casey's not on the farm. But he understands the work ethic, the kind of things it takes, the drive that you've got to have, and the dedication that you have to have every day to make something work. That's the farm attitude, that's the attitude Casey displays." striving to do your best," –UI football coach Kirk Ferentz Like many boys growing up in rural Iowa, Wiegmann was a multisport student- athlete as a prep. He played baseball and basketball, and was a member of the track and field team. It was in the sport of football, however, where he separated himself and, interestingly, not on the offensive side of the line of scrimmage. Wiegmann played defensive end and collected a school-record 17 quarterback sacks during his prep career, an achievement that helped him earn first-team all-state honors as a senior and first-team all-conference honors three times. He also averaged 34.7 yards per punt and was good on 34-of-38 point-aſter-touchdown kicks. Drive, determination, persistence, patience, and a "can-do" attitude… " said Wiegmann, who is the first former Hawkeye to have his name added to the ANF Wall of Honor inside ANF Plaza at Kinnick Stadium. He joined the Iowa football program in 1991 and, aſter red- shirting his freshman year, began a career that ended with 27 starts at the center of the Hawkeyes' offensive line. He earned honorable mention All-Big Ten honors from both the league's coaches and media, and was named team MVP his senior season — 1995 — when he was also invited to play in the East-West Shrine Game and the Hula Bowl. 25