As part of Allstate's Good Hands Roadside Rivalry Road Trip, EDSBS and SBNation.com's own Spencer Hall will be at The Summit tomorrow with former Hawkeyes receiver Tim Dwight starting at 11 a.m., to give away 10 pairs of game tickets, distribute other prizes, eat some free food, and help sign up fans for Good Hands Roadside. Not since Bob Golic and Dustin Diamond lived in the same dorm on Saved by the Bell: The College Years has there been such a comical pairing of athlete and 90's video game aficionado on a university campus, so be sure to stop by.
If there's one thing that the good people at Allstate can appreciate -- other than former Rescue Me cast members meta-impersonating needless damage -- it's a good set of hands. So Allstate asked, "BHGP, which Iowa players had the best hands?" Here is our top three, in no particular order.
Tim Dwight (1994-97)
139 career receptions, 2271 career receiving yards, 21 career touchdown receptions
Superman wears number six, and he plays for the Iowa Hawkeyes. When he graduated following the 1997 season, Dwight held the Iowa career records for receiving yards and touchdowns, was third all-time in all-purpose yards and receptions, and was the Big Ten's all-time leader in punt returns for touchdowns. Since then, his receiving yard record was broken by DJK, and his reception total was passed by Kevin Kasper (and then DJK again), but his punt return record stands. He remains the most explosive receiver to ever wear the black and gold, and he did that with an extremely high degree of difficulty; those 1994 Apex One jerseys with the feathers created a lot of wind drag. That, combined with his Iowa City roots and his continued community outreach during his college, pro, and post-football careers, make him a legend in Iowa City.
Derrell Johnson-Koulianos (2007-10)
168 career receptions, 2544 career receiving yards, 16 career touchdowns. And counting.
Remember this tomorrow, as you chant his initials on Senior Day: It wasn't supposed to be this way for DJK. He was a quarterback in high school, classified as the dreaded "athlete" during recruiting, moved to receiver and set to gradually work his way into the rotation behind Dominique Douglas and Andy Brodell. And then City Boyz, Inc. happened, and Johnson-Koulianos was on the field faster than anyone expected, and we found out there was no spoon. He's been catching everything in sight ever since, whether it be footballs thrown in his direction or grief from coaches who don't like his sunglasses. He plays his last game in Kinnick Stadium tomorrow, now holder of every significant career receiving record at Iowa other than touchdowns, against the chosen team of his home state. We've all come to expect greatness from him; enjoy it one last time.
(The Snow Angel is at 1:03)
Danan Hughes (1989-92)
146 career receptions, 2216 career receiving yards, 21 career touchdowns
The early-90's Hawkeyes, which were essentially the second of the three waves of good Hayden Fry squads, are remembered for guys like Matt Rodgers and Nick Bell, mostly because Rodgers is still the best backwards-running quarterback of all time and Bell played halfback despite being approximately 8 feet tall. Frequently lost in those discussions, though, is Danan Hughes, the gifted wideout who accounted for so many of those Rodgers completions. Hughes, much like DJK after him, was pressed into service early and improved from there; his 471 receiving yards in 1989 set an Iowa freshman record that wasn't broken until 2005. He left Iowa for the NFL in 1993 tied for the all-time lead in receptions and the runaway leader in both yards and touchdowns, despite entering the program on the heels of the prolific Chuck Long era. He was, and remains, the prototypical Iowa receiver.