Former Iowa Hawkeye quarterback Chuck Long is scheduled to speak to the noon Rotary Club of Ankeny on October 9th. Chuck is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and played professionally in the NFL for the Detroit Lions and Los Angles Rams. After his professional career, he served as an assistant coach at Iowa and Oklahoma and head football coach at San Diego State. Long is the CEO and Executive Director of the Iowa Sports Foundation, the organization that runs the Iowa Games, the Senior Games and the Live Healthy Iowa challenge.
Chuck will be talking about his recently published biography “Destined for Greatness – The Story of Chuck Long and Resurgence of Iowa Hawkeyes Football.” It relives his life and career as one of the Hawkeyes' greatest players and the resurgence of Iowa football under Coach Hayden Fry. The book also includes perspectives from Fry, Kirk Ferentz, Hap Peterson, Mark Vlasic and Jonathan Hayes and their reflections on a variety of topics including the farm depression that impacted Iowa in the 1980s. Chuck plans to share his memories of taking a snap in a record five college bowl games, claiming a last-second win over No. 2 Michigan in 1985, finishing runner-up to Bo Jackson for the 1985 Heisman Trophy and being selected in the first round of the 1986 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions. This would be a great opportunity to invite a guest and prospective new members to attend a Rotary meeting!!
