This Iowa quarterback is in love with a girl

IOWA CITY — There was the time Iowa kicked a field goal to beat Michigan and quarterback C.J. Beathard threw his helmet in the air and forgot all about it.

The senior from Franklin, Tenn., was pretty happy.

Last November, Beathard led a 12-0 Iowa team out of Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Neb., wrapping up the program's first 12-0 season. Beathard smiled in the postgame about that one. He quarterbacked the Hawkeyes to a 10-6 victory at Wisconsin last season. Again, pretty happy. He limped around on a torn groin last season during a victory at Northwestern.

The Hawkeyes wrapped up a somewhat satisfying 8-4 season with a 40-10 victory over the then-No. 16 ranked Huskers on Black Friday at Kinnick Stadium. Beathard kept his helmet around, but again, he definitely was happy and satisfied and enjoyed the victory with his teammates.

Now, it's time for the game of life.

On Monday, Maddy Chupka, Beathard's girlfriend of 3 1/2 years, gave birth to their daughter, Lyla.

A photo posted by C.J. Beathard (@ceejaybeat_hard) on

  Got to welcome this beautiful baby girl into the world today! By far one of the greatest and proudest moments of my life. So grateful that God blessed us with this perfect little girl Lyla is such a blessing! #prouddaddy

A photo posted by C.J. Beathard (@ceejaybeat_hard) on

Dec 19, 2016 at 9:55pm PST

During interviews on Thursday, for maybe the first time since he took over as Iowa's quarterback two years ago, Beathard's poise maybe slid just a little bit.

The man, the new father, was wide-eyed and wide-grinned. His eyes showed joy, disbelief and pure happiness. He's ready for the single most creative, complicated, fulfilling, frustrating, engrossing, enriching, depleting endeavor of a man's adult life.

'It was incredible, man,' Beathard said. 'It was one of the best moments of my life. It's something you'll remember forever. It was incredible. It was one of those surreal moments that you don't have many of in your entire life, but you really can't explain it or experience it until it actually happens to you.

'It was awesome. I love my daughter with all of my heart. It was exciting.'

Mother and daughter are in Davenport, but dad is getting over for visits as much as he can. So, he's been getting some sleep, but he hasn't been getting time with his baby girl.

And he aches for it. Yes, of course, he's totally engaged in the Hawkeyes' Outback Bowl appearance against Florida (Jan. 2 in Tampa, Fla.), but baby cuddling is ... well, it's addictive.

'My heart is filled with love when I think of my daughter,' Beathard said. 'A week will be tough. I know playing in the NFL, you're gone a lot. Everyone does it. It's the job, but ...'

No, it's not easy and never is and never will be.

Beathard's week began with graduation. Asked about his proudest academic moments, Beathard had an answer that might leave his professors shaking their heads.

'I took this pingpong class and I got really good at pingpong,' he said with a laugh. 'I became the No. 1 pingpong player on the team.'

OK, he was kidding. Probably. Let's cut the guy some slack. He's a 23-year-old new dad. Beathard's mom, Susan, had him when she was 21. Sure, Beathard lost a breath a few times early, but now he's losing his breath over the idea of missing time with his Lyla.

'I was in the room when she was born, just when you see her stomach and you don't think much of it, yeah, there's a baby in there, sure,' Beathard said. 'And then, there's a baby. This baby was living in her stomach two seconds ago now it's out and breathing air. It's ... wow. It was jaw-dropping. Oh my gosh, that's my child. That's me. I take ownership and that's awesome. So excited.'

This kid is out-of-his-mind in love.

Of course, lots of Iowa players have children. Athletics has counselors in place to help deal with time management. Head coach Kirk Ferentz brought up former Iowa linebacker Abdul Hodge as a player who was able to live in both worlds. His daughter, Amari, was born while Hodge was in high school in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He played four seasons at Iowa and juggled his schedule and made it work. Hodge was an honorary captain for the Hawkeyes this fall and he brought Amari, now 16, along for the visit.

'It's not easy going to college,' Ferentz said. 'It's certainly not easy to be a college football player, and to have a child on top of it, that's one more part to the equation. But I think the key thing is great parental support from both sides and that's exactly what we have here.'

At some point, Beathard's feet will again touch the earth. Just not right now.

'If someone would've said I'd have a kid by graduation, I would've said, 'I doubt it,'' he said. 'That's the thing, you never know what lies ahead of you. God has a plan for everything. There are setbacks in life that only make you a stronger person in the end ... Throughout your entire life, throughout all of our lives, we're going to experience things that are going to be really tough. That's part of life and only means you're living. It makes you a better person in the long run. This is one of those situations.

'You don't expect to have a kid, but it's one of the best things that's happened to me in my life. I'm so excited. I can't wait to see her again. I saw her last night and I can't wait to see her again. I'm excited to go see her.'

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