Kennedy’s Beyer fulfills his dream, commits to Iowa

CEDAR RAPIDS — In the back of his mind, Shaun Beyer knew exactly how Wednesday was going to go down. Or at least what the end result would be.

The Cedar Rapids Kennedy all-stater was finally going to get his scholarship offer from the University of Iowa.

'I kind of had a feeling,' Beyer said, after verbally committing to the Hawkeyes. 'Just by the things that have been happening lately, the tone of the letters and phone calls I've been getting.'

Beyer drove down to Iowa City to observe Hawkeye practice Wednesday morning and was then ushered into Coach Kirk Ferentz's office. After about a half-hour chat, Ferentz delivered the words Beyer had been waiting to hear.

'He asked me if I wanted to be a Hawkeye,' Beyer said. 'I told him, yes. Then all the assistant coaches came in and congratulated me.'

The 6-foot-5, 210-pound senior did everything for his Kennedy team, which lost to West Des Moines Dowling in the Class 4A state championship game Monday night.

As a tight end, he had 43 catches for 853 yards and 11 touchdowns. As a part-time quarterback and running back, he rushed for 681 yards and five TDs and completed 5 of 7 passes.

Defensively, he had seven sacks as a 'hybrid' player. He even averaged 44.5 yards as a punter.

The Iowa Newspaper Association named him captain of its 4A all-state team.

'Shaun Beyer is a competitor,' Kennedy Coach Brian White said. 'He wants to do whatever he needs to do to help our team win. If that means he runs tailback or quarterback a little bit, so be it. He wants to do whatever it takes to help our team win.'

Beyer originally committed in early fall to three-time defending FCS national champion North Dakota State, but as his play on the field continued to get better and better, you got the feeling the college programs recruiting him would, too.

He got an official offer a couple of weeks ago from Nebraska, which, ironically, plays Iowa on Black Friday. But Beyer always wanted to be a Hawkeye.

'It's a dream come true,' he said. 'I don't know quite yet what position I'll play. They're recruiting me as an 'athlete.' We'll see what happens.'

Beyer is the 24th member of Iowa's 2016 recruiting class and its fifth Iowan. Cedar Falls offensive lineman Spencer Williams, Algona offensive lineman Cole Banwart, Pella inside linebacker Austin Schulte and Chariton tight end T.J. Hockenson are the others.

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