Iowa quarterback leads with passion, heart

By Brian Heinemann
For The Herald

Ricky Stanzi blanked. He was nervous, and he didn’t know what to say.

So he blurted out the first thing that came to mind - “If you don’t love it, leave it. USA number one!” - and drew the attention of the nation to himself.

Those words at the FedEx Orange Bowl in January made Ricky Stanzi into somewhat of a legend and a YouTube sensation. He, for one, just finds it funny.

“I didn’t know what the question was about,” Stanzi said of what prompted his response. “Looking back on it, I know now. I just wasn’t smart enough to answer it, obviously. I couldn’t process it that fast. At the time, I was just all excited about the win, and trying to keep my composure. 

“And then he (Fox Sports’ Chris Myers) goes out and says ‘America,’ and I of course have that little trigger in my head, that I want to get a couple quotes out there and let everyone know how Iowa feels about being patriotic.”

Stanzi and his teammates use phrases like “if you don’t love it, leave it” and “these colors don’t run” around the house and the football complex, so it was nothing out of the ordinary for him to say what he said. Of course, this time there was a national audience watching and a microphone being held up to his face.

That’s the part that Stanzi finds hilarious. That, of everybody, he was the one that got to use one of those phrases on national television.

He gets a kick out of the pictures, too, the ones that have been Photoshopped, playing on his patriotism and “national hero” persona. 

“(They are) very interesting,” he said. “I saw some of them. My dad’s seen them. He would show them to me and my mom. They think it’s hilarious. They’re pretty funny. I just wonder how much time  these people have that they are putting into this stuff. But it’s funny. I’m glad people got a laugh out of it. It’s all in good fun.”

But not everything with Stanzi is fun and games. He is a real life hero, at least to some. Just looking at his wrists is a clear indicator of that.

On each wrist, the senior quarterback has four rubber bracelets. They have been given to him by seven different people - the first is so faded and worn out that he was given another - and they mean so much to him that never takes them off. 

Ever.

“They’re just bands for kids at the children's hospital, or in Iowa in general, who are battling certain diseases, and they’ll give you their band just to wear because they’re fans of the Hawkeyes,” Stanzi said.

Stanzi has met the children through hospital visits and from Dance Marathon in Iowa City and has developed close relationships with some of them and their families. To him, wearing a bracelet given to him by a child struggling with a life-threatening disease is the least he can do.

“You wear them for support, but at the same time, it kind of lets you know that what you’re doing is on a small scale, compared to the kind of battle they have to go through every single day,” he said. “If we’re able to help them in any way, we think that’s a tremendous opportunity. They’re only a walk away from the stadium, so if we have time and we can go over and visit, why not?”

Many of his teammates wear a band or two, but none like Stanzi. 

“I wear a couple, but not as much as that guy,” defensive end Adrian Clayborn said of the quarterback. “He likes his wristbands. They’re given to him by kids, so he wears them.”

His attitude and his heart have earned him the status as unquestioned leader of the Hawkeyes and as a permanent team captain. 

“Not only on the field, but off the field, he pushes us,” Clayborn said. “He pushes the defense in practice. He’s probably the best leader on our team."

And his play, while erratic at times, shows another quality of Stanzi’s that has earned him respect not just within his own team, but throughout the Big Ten.

“I have tremendous respect for Ricky Stanzi,” Michigan cornerback Troy Woolfolk said. “Even though people might call it crazy, I call it courage. He has it, and he’s not afraid to try to throw something in there.”