HAWK TALK

May 2021

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15 T he aroma of cigar smoke takes 59-year-old Andy Unsicker back in time nearly five decades to game day in Kinnick Stadium. In the early 1970s, with social security card in hand, a 10-year-old Unsicker would arrive at the stadium at 8 in the morning, sell popcorn until halime and then watch the rest of the Hawkeye football game. "To this day, when I smell cigar smoke, I am reminded of Kinnick Stadium," Unsicker said. "It was great because you could get in free, watch the game and earn a few bucks." Unsicker lived in Iowa City back then and his father operated Unsicker Dental Lab. Aer graduating from West High School, Unsicker attended Ricks College in Rexburg, Idaho. He met his wife, Natalie, there and the couple soon returned to her hometown of Richfield, Utah, where Andy worked on the family turkey farm. e change in time zone didn't alter his affection to Hawkeye athletics. Unsicker continues to attend home football games, making the 1,200-mile trip either by plane or car ("a 17- hour straight shot"). He missed the 1997 NCAA Wrestling Championships, but has attended the last 21 in a row. "It has always been a part of me," Unsicker said. "When I got married and started living in (Utah), people would ask where I was from; they wanted to know where I lived now. e correct answer was supposed to be Richfield, but I would always say I was from Iowa. People thought I was nuts, it didn't compute with them. But it has always been part of who I have been." Unsicker makes dentures for a living and his familiarity with the dental profession paid off in a black and gold kind of way. When he needed crowns for his teeth, Unsicker had one designed with a painted and permanent Tigerhawk and another with a block I. "People freak out about that when they see it," Unsicker said. "When people are talking about their fan hood, I can always top them." An avid collector of Hawkeye memorabilia, Unsicker has a Man Cave to be coveted. His preferred items are from pre-1950s and he has

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