TIGHT END EXPLOSION Iowa once again has wrested the moniker as the NFL’s “Tight End U” away from Big Ten rival Wisconsin. Four different Hawkeyes have started NFL games at tight end this year. Oakland’s Brandon Myers has 16 catches for 228 yards, while Buffalo’s Scott Chandler caught 12 passes for 175 yards and four [...]

  Usually, tight ends are converted to offensive linemen instead of vice versa. Iowa’s Riley Reiff was taken by the Detroit Lions in the first round of the 2012 NFL draft to play on the line, and that’s where he’ll earn his salary. But Sunday in the Lions’ 27-23 win over the St. Louis Rams, [...]

  Sports writer Scott Dochterman and I travelled to St. Joseph, Missouri, for the annual Kansas City training camp at Missouri Western State University. Former Iowa Hawkeyes quarterback Ricky Stanzi, tight end Tony Moeaki and center Rob Bruggeman are on the training camp roster.        

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — Tony Moeaki is no stranger to injuries based on his gridlock-like string of consecutive games played at Iowa. But last year he suffered his worst injury, a torn ACL in the Kansas City Chiefs’ preseason finale. It ended his second season before it began, and shelved all hope of Moeaki building on [...]

  Who would you say is the best NFL player among all the ex-Iowa Hawkeyes currently in the league? When I thought about this, the answer that leaped to my mind was Minnesota Vikings linebacker Chad Greenway. He hasn’t missed a game in the last five seasons, and averaged 9.6 tackles per game last season. [...]

IOWA CITY — Zach Derby quietly has emerged from the shadows of his highly acclaimed younger brother and highly touted fellow tight ends to make his mark at Iowa. Derby, a junior Iowa City native, has stuck to a familiar Hawkeye philosophy: he outworks everyone around him. Derby, a 6-foot-3, 240-pound tight end, walked on at Iowa [...]

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — Rick Stanzi’s reputation as a workaholic transferred from his playing days at Iowa to his professional era in Kansas City. Nobody stayed on the field later than Stanzi after a grueling 3-hour Tuesday morning practice. He was the last to leave, then stayed late signing autographs for fans before he was [...]

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — Tony Moeaki’s never had the gift of gab, but last year he sure had the gift of grab. The second-year Kansas City Chiefs tight end pulled down one of the season’s best catches against San Francisco. Moeaki lined up in the slot and worked against 49ers linebacker NaVorro Bowman. Moeaki ran a [...]