Player of the Year: Kennedy's Shaun Beyer

CEDAR RAPIDS — He would be the perfect tour guide if you ever have the desire to travel to Munich, Frankfurt, Hamburg or Dusseldorf.

Sprechen sie Deutsch? Shaun Beyer does, rather fluently.

'I can still pretty much hold a conversation with people,' the Cedar Rapids Kennedy senior said. 'But, you know, you lose it, if you don't use it, so I'm probably losing some of it. I still think I could talk a little bit.'

Beyer has learned the language by taking multiple semesters of it in high school. Then there was the year he spent living in Germany.

None of the prior Gazette/KCRG Prep Football Players of the Year have that on their resume.

'It's kind of a long story,' said the multi-dimensional University of Iowa commit. 'We went over there as a family for a family reunion the summer of my seventh-grade year. I was told that if I ever wanted to spend a year there, I was welcome. I told them 'Yeah, I'll do it.''

So a year later, he did, taking up residence with distance relatives Gisela and Tomas Look and their young daughter, Johanna, in Teltow, a town of 21,000 in the northeast corner of Germany. Teltow is 15 miles from Berlin, or roughly a five-minute train ride.

Beyer attended school there, became totally immersed in the culture. Well, not totally immersed, since he never got into that soccer thing.

'It was fun, a good experience,' he said. 'I don't know, it was kind of crazy because I didn't know the language, but the people over there are very accepting. They spoke English very well because they start that in school really young. They were accepting, kind of took me under my wing, and I made friends easily. Probably about four or five months in, I could start having conversations with them in German. That was pretty cool.'

He returned to the United States a much more grown-up kid. That included physically, as he grew seven inches in his year in Teltow, to 6-foot-3.

He's now 6-5 and, at 19 years old, done growing, he figures.

'Living in Germany for a year helped me mature and become a lot more independent,' he said. 'For instance, I had to get to stuff using public transportation. I'd never done anything like that in my life. Berlin being such a big city and everything, that helped me learn to be responsible, I guess.

'Then growing seven inches, I guess that helped me out a little bit, too. I don't know what they have in their water over there, but I guess it helped out.'

Beyer used his size and jumping ability to simply go over opponents to make catches for Kennedy, which finished with a school-best 13-1 record, losing to West Des Moines Dowling in the Class 4A state championship game. The Cougars could line him up at tight end, wide at receiver or in the slot to create favorable matchups.

He also played some quarterback and running back, showing off a strong arm and long, powerful and fast legs. On defense, he played a hybrid linebacker/safety position, even punting to the tune of 40-plus yards.

He had the green light from Coach Brian White to tuck the ball on those roll-out punts to try and pick up first downs.

'Just what he brings to the table,' White said. 'How we used him, the different things we could do with him. He's a smart kid, so we could put him at different positions and have him line up (there) because he understands the offense. One play he's at running back, next play he's a 'Z' receiver, the next play he's out wide, the next play he's at quarterback. He's the total package.'

White believes Beyer is quite possibly the best football player Kennedy ever has had. That's saying something, as Christian French plays defensive line at Oregon, and Tracy Crocker was a defensive back for Iowa's 1981 Rose Bowl team.

Beyer committed early in the fall to FCS power North Dakota State, but Iowa offered him two days after Kennedy's loss to Dowling, and he jumped at it. This was a dream fulfilled.

'I grew up a Hawkeye fan, going to games every year and stuff,' he said. 'I always said 'I want to go to Iowa when I get older.' My favorite thing to wear when I was younger was a little Hawkeye jersey. I had to wear it every day before I'd go to bed. It's always been the dream, and I still can't believe it, really. It's awesome.'

Extremely blessed to receive an offer and to commit to the Iowa Hawkeyes! Truly a dream come true! November 25, 2015

Extremely blessed to receive an offer and to commit to the Iowa Hawkeyes! Truly a dream come true! pic.twitter.com/1ul9q4HrQQ

— Shaun Beyer (@Beyer10Shaun)

Hawkeye assistant coach Reese Morgan, his main recruiter, told Beyer in a visit to Kennedy this past week that Iowa will start him at tight end. Defensive end isn't out of the question, eventually, either.

Neither is punter.

'We had a 7-on-7 camp the summer before his junior year,' White said. 'I don't remember who we were playing … Our quarterback threw one up over the middle, and Shaun elevated about three feet above everybody to just yank it out of the air. At that point, I think we all knew we had something pretty special. You can't defend that, with his speed and size and jumping ability. The fact that he could run the ball, throw the ball, kick the ball … What a weapon.'

'I kind of set a goal after we lost to Bettendorf in our second-round playoff game last year to become one of the best players in the state overall,' Beyer said. 'Coach (Tim) Lewis, Coach (Kyle) Knock, Coach White helped me out in the weight room and with summer workouts to put on weight and become stronger and faster and jump higher with track and everything. They helped me become just a better athlete overall. Everything just kind of came together this season and worked out as I planned, I guess.'