Ball Hawks

PHOTOS: KYLE WICK

Each time a Hawkeye player crosses the goal line with the football this fall, members of the Dallas-Fort Worth IOWA Club ask themselves the same question: "Was that my ball?"

About 100 club members gathered earlier this year at Big Game USA, a Dallas-based sporting goods company that manufactures game balls for the UI and other programs. The Hawkeye fans toured the factory the day Iowa's footballs rolled off the production line. After the Nike footballs were stamped with a Tigerhawk logo—but before they were stitched up—club members signed their names on the interior lining, along with "Go, Hawks!" and other messages. Club member Cory Jensen, a Parkersburg, Iowa, native and a sales representative for Big Game USA, led the tour, which has become an annual tradition for the club.

Says club president Kyle Wick (09BA): "It's such a unique opportunity for us to do this each year, and it's right in our backyard."