Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Pt 2 - Former Iowa RB Jordan Canzeri joins the show to talk about the Big 10 championship game and his favorite Iowa memories

Episode Date: September 4, 2019

Former Iowa RB Jordan Canzeri is back on the show for part two of our interview with him. On today's episode he dives into his feelings and emotions during the Big Ten Championship game as well as what some of his favorite memories were at Iowa. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I thank God I was born on the good arms of the Midwest, and not on the battlefields of the U.S. It's a time of panic, and it's intercepted! It's picked off right away! Intercepted by Marty Hooker! Pick six! Eight seconds into the game! Buffen sets up deep in the pocket, goes down the field for Smith!

Oh! He's got it! Smith! Touchdown. 85 yards. High on. Touchdown, 10. Taking a shot in the end zone.

It is caught. No offense. Touchdown. That's either one or you have it. Go ahead and three. Yes. Two-point lead for the Hawkeyes podcast, your daily podcast covering your Iowa Hawkeyes on the Locked On Sports Network.

I'm your host, Andrew Wade, and I am joined here by my co-host, Zach Cohen. We are both of dearOldGold.com. We have a fantastic episode coming at you on this Wednesday morning. We're going to be continuing our interview with Jordan Canzeri, so you're going to get part two of that interview on today's episode of the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. If you didn't get an opportunity to listen to yesterday's episode, please do so as well. Although you're not going to necessarily miss any continuation pieces, it's still nice to get the beginning part of the interview.

And if this is the first time you are tuning into the show and you do end up liking what you hear today on the show today, make sure to subscribe wherever you got this podcast at, whether that is Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or the brand new Himalaya Podcast app, and please like and review so you can let us know what you do like and what you don't like and what things we can improve. It also helps us get notoriety for other people looking for the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast. So please do that today if you have an opportunity to do so. And then also, if you are on social media, make sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

You're going to get more information from us on those social media mediums. And also, we're going to be doing some great giveaways that's going to require some participation on one of those three social media mediums. All right, though, let's jump into that interview with Jordan Canzeri. Finish that up today, starting right now. That Big Ten Championship game, that was one of the better games I've ever seen as well. Really back and forth. What was your emotions like through that, you know, throughout that game? And obviously watching LJ Scott go in for that touchdown. If you don't mind, could you walk me through kind of what your emotions were for that?

Well, I would say leading up was just blank. It's even just hard to explain, but just, you know, full focus that wasn't, didn't have jitters, didn't have anything. Like I, I felt ready to go. And even my first two runs that I had, I did, I did well on, but, you know, having that on my second handoff, the guy come down on my other ankle, the opposite one of, I rolled against Northwestern and right away I knew it was along the same and I was out of commission but um

I taped it up they brought me the bag tried to see what I could do but I told um Coach Ferencz that I didn't want to hurt my team because we had capable running backs right behind me. And I didn't want to go in there not 100 percent or not even close and, you know, kind of put us in a worse position. So, you know, a lot of anger there. That was, you know, tough to just, again, have to be back on the sideline watching your team fight. again, have to be back on the sideline watching their team fight. But I tried to do as much as I could with getting the crowd up. Just the atmosphere was just so incredible. Everyone was so loud, cheering us on the whole way.

And, yeah, I mean, watching that, I think it was a nine-minute drive of them just churning down the field and, you know, ending in a score. You know, it does hurt. And especially, you know, ending in a score, you know, it does hurt. And especially, you know, ending with the loss, it was definitely one of the most stinging moments. But right afterwards, and I've said this in a bunch of different interviews, but two of my favorite memories is when we lost the Big Ten Championship and when we lost the Rose Bowl just due to the fact that we received standing ovation by our fans.

And I've been to so many different stadiums and you see late in the third quarter, early in the fourth, fans just flooding out, thinking that their team's done for and that they're not going to win. But Iowa, our fans, they stay. They stay to the end. They watch.

And just, again, to see how much they traveled for Indianapolis and for Pasadena. And even though we lost to stay and give a sustaining ovation, you don't get that at any other program. So definitely was blessed to be a part of that. Yeah, just to build off off that i actually was at that michigan state game and i'm like even leading up to it i don't know if you could feel it but just the whole crowd in the atmosphere there were so many iowa fans uh even almost doubling michigan

state you'd be walking through the concourse and iowa chance to be going is that could you kind of feel that like during pregame like before the game did you kind of feel that energy in the air that uh you know from all those Iowa fans there oh yeah you could hear it you could feel it and it was funny even um one of my boys got on the college game day or he had a sign up saying Jordan can't marry my sister so I was already you already laughing about that, but then it was back to being focused once we were on the way to the stadium. But yeah, he just felt it. You knew it. And another funny story was me and one of our, sorry, one of our GAs, he,

me and him, or one of our GAs, he, me and him, every single practice would do like a throwing sequence. Like he would throw just different routes to me, just back and forth, straight on, turning around, one-handed catches, a bunch of stuff like that. And we would also do it during warmups in the game, every single game too. And it was just so funny that doing it at the Big Ten Championship

and at the Rose Bowl, but at the Big Ten Championship, it was funnier. But there was like at least six cameras just in his face, in my face. That's awesome. He's throwing perfect passes. I'm catching them perfect. All of my one-handed grabs, just snagging them. And, but, you know, we're keeping our straight face.

We're keeping it cool. And as soon as the cameras walked away, like, we just, like, walked up to each other and both of us just started going, oh, bro, you were throwing crazies. Like, you were crazy. I like we definitely put out for the camera so it was that was a fun time too you got to show off for the camera man you can't look bad in front of that no definitely yeah before we head to break i just want to remind you the nfl season begins this week, which means crossover Wednesday will be back for

the entire regular NFL season. You will get a special episode every Wednesday as the host from opposing sides meet up to preview the excitement of the games happening that week. Find your favorite team wherever you get your podcast and be sure to not miss the NFL listeners favorite segment. Zach, I have a question for you. Do you play fantasy football or do you play fantasy sports? Yes, I do. Awesome, man. Well, there is, I have a really cool and exciting app to tell you about. I tried it out this weekend. It is fantastic. No House Advantage is taking an exciting new spin on daily fantasy sports. Instead of salary cap drafting, No House Advantage offers daily player prop contest.

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Certain state limitations may affect your ability to participate in paid contests, but if you are able to, make sure to do that right now. It is an absolute blast. Yeah, speaking on that, on that season on a more positive note, so that season you had an absurd 13 touchdowns. Does any of those touchdowns you scored that year stand out to you most? Well, not as excitement-wise. Like the Illinois, the 75-yarder, that was probably my most exciting one. But I would have to say my favorite one needs has to be Purdue um because after the game like my father came out to me he's like do you even know what

you just did I was like I'm tired I'm just hungry I want to hurry up and eat and I'm like no what he's like are you serious like you don't know what you just did I was like no he's like your last handoff in Kinnick Stadium was that 50-yard touchdown and I was pretty sweet I was like oh yeah I guess so I didn't even think about it but yeah it was so you know just to you know end things kind of on that page with being a part of a great program and being on such a great team like that not knowing what the future held but just to kind of end yeah my um time there in kinnick's playing in kinnick stadium that's definitely a way to go out so it's again it's definitely blessed to be able to be a part of that but i did get yelled at for scoring because I should have fell and killed some clock but I'm a running back so it sucks like it's hard to think like that when you

just see the end zone in front of you yeah you seem mentally in the zone at all times and it'd be kind of odd to your first instinct would be to go down so I do and the story itself being that your last carry and connect would be a lot better than yeah i broke up a 49 yarder and fell with one yard line right definitely yeah so yeah the line just made it easy for me and ran straight and you know the rest is history so again it was it was awesome to be a part of and so in spite of all the you know you've had some a lot of injuries and whatnot i want to touch on that in a second but just a of things when looking at the record book, your name's over a few spots. I wanted to make sure you kind of were aware of that,

but you are 17th in all time history and all purpose yards, 14th and rushing yards. You hold, you're tied for the single game record and touchdowns and your third all time rushing performance against Northwestern. When you had 43 carries and 256 yards, that is third all time for a single game. Do any of those kind of like monuments stand out to you? Do any of those statistics stand out to you as being better than the other?

Did you not even know any of that? Yeah, didn't really think too much about it all. Just trying to, you know, focus more on just the team effort. But, you know, just doing anything I could for the team, but definitely in the Illinois game, having the, I think they said the 43 carries was a record too. And that was just an amazing moment for one first game. I had a handful of my buddies from New York come out in first time in Kinnick. So as soon as I broke

off that 75 yard run I was like thank god that it wasn't another Maryland when I just completely crapped the bed but um and then just something to never forget as well is just going on the run when we're just trying to kill clock. And I think they said I got the handoff 11 times in a row, I think, at one point. Freaking workhorse, man. Yeah, and the crazy thing was that, you know, I could not tell at all. I wasn't counting, didn't even know how much at all. If you asked me right in there, I would have said, I don't know, maybe five or six times in a row. But every time I got up, even though I was tired,

the crowd would just be so loud and so crazy. And it just gave me more fuel. But, again, just, you know, I was willing to do whatever I could to try to kill the clock. And, again, our guys were making the right blocks and opening holes for me and I was just doing what I can turning those feet but definitely was an awesome time just again to be able to stand up and hear the crowd and just to keep fighting and going and then for us to end with a win definitely a great time. 43 carries is absurd that's an astronomical number. Did you sleep in an ice bath after?

Did you know you got the ball 43 times? Did you black out? How did that work? I definitely didn't know. And it was funny that even that Monday, there was a Cowboy Scout who came up to me, and he was just walking by. He was like, 43 carries, huh?

You must be tired. And I was like, no, surprisingly, I'm not. I was more sore after the previous Wisconsin game than I was after the Illinois game and it was I don't even know again it might have just been the adrenaline with the whole game and everything but it was yeah yeah but I definitely caught up with me two days after. Definitely needed some good sleep. So you talked about the NFL scout noticing that you had the 43 carries, and obviously you did pretty well at your pro day. Was there any interest coming out of college for the NFL,

or kind of what was your experience coming out of school? Yeah. I had a lot of teams calling me and talking to me about you know late rounds five six seven free agency things and it was something that i understood and i tried not to focus on too much because i obviously i could say, well, I made third team all Big Ten and I had 980-some rushing yards, but I also missed three and a half games. Thinking about all the what-ifs, what if I didn't get hurt and miss Northwestern, Maryland, Indiana, Minnesota,

if I didn't get hurt in the Big Ten Championship if I wasn't 100% in the Rose Bowl things like that could obviously sit and drive myself nuts but I just focused on making sure that if I got the opportunity in a camp I would do what I could and I would go all out and make them realize that I was a steal. But sadly, when I was in my Kansas City Chiefs rookie minicamp, I broke my hand. No. And I didn't tell him. I just kept pushing through.

Went through another camp with it. And then when I got called by the L.A. LA Rams it was like the week I had my surgery they said they released a guy and they're trying to sign somebody on the spot so they're bringing me and two other running backs in I cut my cast off at the bar that I was working at flew out that morning performed well and I won't you know I won't say that I didn't perform really good, but, you know, they were surprised when they saw I still had stitches in and they had to actually take them out for me. But I think they liked me because before I even got back to my apartment that was on campus there, they called my agent

and said that they really liked me, but the team doctor said that he wouldn't clear me for another month or more. So a couple of months. So they needed some money they could take now. So that kind of sucked. But I then after that took the opportunity to play overseas in Japan. And I had a great time there. Definitely wouldn't say that I regretted it.

Again, you can sit and think about all the what-ifs, but, you know, just controlling what I could in that moment in time and doing what I could and then continuing to play. I mean, I was, again, blessed to be able to play the game I love. Yeah, and so with the – I mean, obviously the AAF folded and, you know, there were some Iowa football players in the AAF, obviously Akron Wadley. The XFL is coming up in January though do

you have any interest in still pursuing a professional career is the XFL something that might be on your radar um I don't really think so just because you know I'm sick surgeries deep and I would like to you know be able to walk when I'm older as much as I would like to, you know, be able to walk when I'm older as much as I would like to play. So just to kind of like I'm doing now, just finally be in that phase and point where I can give back and, you know, train kids, do public speaking and go and talking to teams and schools. And that's another motivation of mine that I want to get better at is to with public speaking going and talking to schools New York Iowa other neighboring states I would like to you know make it a thing but you know again just being able to now be at the stage where I can give

back from all the great experiences I was able to have and was blessed to be a part of. I'm happy in this point. I love it, man. It sounds like you're kind of pieced with kind of where your career is taking you. And I think as you probably realize, like some of the stuff you do with kids is almost more rewarding than stuff you can do on the field. Yeah.

Yeah, definitely. I mean, I will admit though, yes, when you are playing in the NFL, playing professionally, you do have a larger platform to reach more kids. But at this level, it's for me, it's more on like a personal note, teaching them good guidance and life lessons where it's not so much of watching me play and me just giving the, you know, cliche, work hard, fight for your dreams. But I'm able to actually be around these kids and really talking to them and helping them with some of their struggles as well with the kids that I coach, the kids that I tutor, just all kids from all different aspects of life. So it's also been a blessing to kind of see how some of these kids have been growing with a lot of the adversities that they

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I mean, I would say when I was younger, I really liked Brothers and just loved and just made friends with staff and they were great people and it was a fun atmosphere but then summit was also a place that i like to go because i was a dancer i love dancing so union i went to but they had some bouncers that were very you know questionable with who they let in and really a lot of bad experiences with like even from hearing other people as well so i i avoided union for a while at towards the end of being in iowa city but but I also became very good friends with the owner of Bardo, and I actually was able to work there as well when I was rehabbing my ACL, my second ACL knee.

So just a lot of great people owning some of those bars downtown. But, yeah, Brothers, Summit, Bardo, those are definitely my go-tos. But Pines definitely. Seems like you like all of them, Jordan. Hey, you got to make the rounds and see everybody, you know. I like the open mind. So being that experience and, like, being on the football team, even when you're younger, like freshman, sophomore,

how was that, like, process? Like, I always wonder, like, when you go to those bars and things like that and you see the bouncers, do they automatically let you in? Like do you have to show ID? Like do they kind of know, like, hey, he's on the football team, let him in, where some bars are a little less lenient to do that? Or like how did that work? Well, it was more so downtown was really just, for me, honestly, it was a little more annoying that it was hard to just really have fun. that we were shown when we were at places but um especially my senior year my father and i had to

like monitor twitter because there would be people tweeting that they were partying with me or getting drunk with me and i had no clue who they were and would have to like message them and ask them to take those things down because they're going to get me in trouble. And sometimes I would literally be – I would get – there would be tweets, and I was sitting on my butt at home watching Netflix and still getting some of those tweets. So it became frustrating at a point. But, you know, nothing – there's nothing like getting a good win and then going out and celebrating with your brothers.

So those are some things I'll never forget with your brothers at brothers right brothers at brothers brothers at bardo all over what uh all right so what's your favorite uh food spot restaurant iowa city food spot i mean my go-to's i love sushi so formosa oh yeah was a big one takanami when they had it um i also really liked going to poncheros we don't have it back here at home dude ponties is great especially at 2 a.m yeah that was my next question poncho chipotle oh ponch all the way oh man okay ponch all the way cuz the point is too people you know i i like to think outside of the box so when i went to when i would go to poncheros i wouldn't just get a steak quesadilla that's boring i would get the steak quesadilla with corn in it with the grilled

vegetables and everything in it too and it that just made it elite but one time too it was really funny um i ordered the i was with my buddy and we ordered the quesarito and we were told it was like you know that super secret thing and it was so funny that like i'm no lie when i asked i was like can i get the quesarito like whispered it he looks at the manager manager just looks at him doesn't even say anything just nods his head it's like a vetting process to get the quesadilla. Yeah. I was like, this legit is like some secret menu stuff. But, yeah, to literally have a steak quesadilla as your outside wrap for a steak, for chicken, steak, burrito, I mean, can't go wrong with that. And, come on, the fresh queso, too.

Chipotle has nothing on punch. Fresh queso too Chipotle has nothing on punch What's the craziest Because this has to have happened What's the craziest experience With a fan Or another student While like at a late night place

At a bar or at a late night place getting food Did you have any weird stories That happened to you while you were at the school A lot food did you have any weird stories uh that you happened to happen to you while you were at the school oh a lot what's like one of the most memorable one that was funny was jesus again a lot but um i had a girl chase me downtown before like literally full sprint um so got some so got some good cardio in but wow um i've had people message me online with offers of money um had one person put a picture of a black baby doll on my Facebook and say, I want one of these and Iowa onesie, you know, there was, there was a lot, but wow. It was definitely fun. Good stories.

Good stories to tell the kids. Yeah. I love man. Well, Hey, we, we really appreciate your time. Zach, do you have any questions? I have one last question. So I want to make sure you get yours in before I close out the show. No, I think that's pretty much it. I think my important punch bullet question was already asked. So I think we're good.

All right. So Jordan, I have one last question for you. And it is literally just what is your favorite memory from Iowa? It doesn't have to be football, just anything at all. I would say favorite memories are just being in the locker room in the hotel rooms with the guys moments that you'll never forget just the fun that we had together you know being with guys from different states different walks of life for hours and hours a day so many days a year you know bleeding together sweating together just you know hanging out drinking together moments you like that you

know it's it's stuff that again the brotherhood will always be there and it doesn't even and that's the amazing thing too doesn't matter if you were a guy who graduated years before or graduating now, as long as you're a Hawk, you're always a Hawk. And just to have that family feel, again, it's something that I don't think you get at any other university or college. So definitely blessed to be able to call myself a Hawkeye. I love that. I think that's a great way to close out the show. Jordan, thank you so much for your time. Any last departing words before we close it out? Hawks this year, win in the West

and be ready for some good football. Can't wait. I love mail. Thank you so much, Jordan. Have a great rest of your day and we'll talk to you later, man. Yeah. Thank you, Jordan. Thanks for having me. Go Hawks. Hell yeah. All right Alright and that concludes our interview with Jordan Kanzeri Again a big shout out to him for joining the show He talked to him for about an hour So lots of time he spent with us Just talking about Iowa football, talking about What he's doing now, talking about his life

Talking about great memories, all that sort of stuff It was a very fun interview and we really appreciate Him jumping on the show If you didn't like what you heard today, make sure you like, review And subscribe wherever you downloaded this podcast app. And make sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. But that'll do it for today's episode. We do have two episodes coming out tomorrow and Friday morning, giving you some previews of the Rutgers game and just the Big Ten games in general. We'll also be talking about the AP polls and kind of where Iowa sits in that. So

if you love Iowa Hawkeye football, right now is a great time to continue listening to the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. I hope you all have a fantastic Wednesday morning, Hawkeye Nation. Go Hawks! We'll see you next time.