Hawkeye Couple James and Erin Daniels Open Independent Bookstore

PHOTO: BRIAN CLARK Former Hawkeye football player James Daniels and his wife, Erin, are pictured in Prairie Pages bookstore in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin.

For most of his football career, James Daniels’ reading was limited to playbooks.

Now James (19BA), who starred at center for the Hawkeyes from 2015–17, is surrounded by science fiction, psychological thrillers, and other books.

He and his wife, Erin Tormey Daniels (19BA), opened Prairie Pages, an independent bookstore in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, late last year—an unexpected plot twist in the NFL offensive lineman’s story.

PHOTO: BRIAN CLARK Independent bookstore owners James and Erin Daniels met in a health class at Iowa and married in 2023.

James, who grew up in Ohio, followed his older brother LeShun (17BA) to Iowa to play football. Though he didn’t have much time for reading between classes and practices, James does remember a couple of books that stuck with him: Slaughterhouse Five, written by former Iowa Writers’ Workshop instructor Kurt Vonnegut, and Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, which he read for an Interpretations of Literature course.

By contrast, Erin grew up a bookworm in Indianola, Iowa. She came to the UI to study health and human physiology, met James in health class, and helped spark his interest in reading.

The couple married in 2023 and landed in Sun Prairie after Erin took a job at a nearby Madison, Wisconsin, hospital while James was playing for the Chicago Bears. They began making more time for reading and exchanging books every month.

James—who played eight years for the Bears, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Miami Dolphins in the NFL—was released this past February by the Dolphins after spending the season on injured reserve, but he hopes he’ll be picked up by another team.

If not, he says it’s been a good run. And he’ll have more time to attend Iowa games with Erin. 

PHOTO: BRIAN CLARK The owners of Prairie Pages aim to offer selections that appeal to diverse audiences and make their store accessible for all patrons.

“But I’m really enjoying the bookstore,” says James, who describes himself as an “introspective nerd.”

“Football always came easy for me, so this has been a new and fun kind of challenge,” he says. “Researching what kind of romance novels we might want to stock for 50- to 60-year-old women is quite different.”

James now reads at least two books a month, favoring mysteries, thrillers, and science fiction with a plot twist. He’s also fond of stories that have made the jump from page to screen.

Meanwhile, Erin left her hospital job last year to focus full-time on the bookstore. “It’s hard work and a lot of hours,” she says. “But we’re really enjoying it.”

Erin describes herself as a “mood reader” who gravitates toward romantasy, thrillers, and “sappy romances,” while occasionally mixing in a gothic or horror novel. She admits that she gets emotionally attached to fictional characters and lives for a well-written slow burn.

Erin, who earned a doctorate in occupational therapy from Washington University in St. Louis, uses that background to ensure the 2,000-square foot bookstore is accessible to people with disabilities. Creating an inclusive space for readers involves widening aisles for wheelchairs, adjusting counters to appropriate heights, and stocking books that represent all types of people.

James also hopes to broaden the store’s reach—especially among athletes and young men. “Our customers and people who come in to hear authors are about 80% women,” says James, who is working with a local high school athletic director to start a book club for student-athletes.

“What I know best are football locker rooms, which are hypermasculine environments,” he says, where reading wasn’t valued. “So we’ve got work to do. But I’m up for it. In my experience, books can open you to different worlds and perspectives.”