Equipment crew keeps the Hawks spiffy and odor-free

For Greg Morris, no two days are the same - except for the laundry.

Morris, equipment manager for the Iowa Hawkeye football program, works 12-hour days this time of year, making sure the some 150 players, coaches and staffers have what they need, when they need it.

“I had to run to Mount Vernon early Saturday morning before the Michigan game and pick up some extra pairs of long underwear for the coaches,” Morris says. “We've been dealing with the cold and flu crap, and it can get real cold standing down on the sidelines.”

Every night ends with loads of aromatic laundry in a cluster of industrial washing machines and dryers. Every day begins at 7 a.m., making sure that laundry is finished and laid out for another day of workouts and practice.

“You get used to the BO,” Morris says. “We take precautions with it. Everyone here washes their hands about 9,000 times a day.”

Morris, 48, has had 20 years to get used to the smell. Since taking over as the head equipment manager eight years ago, the Solon native and University of Iowa grad has mastered the subtleties of this chaotic job.

“I'm a chemical nut,” Morris says. “We're always mixing and matching with our detergents and brighteners.”

Morris and company don't mess with name-brand detergents off the shelf. They get specialized soaps from EMS Detergent Services in North Liberty. Removing the stains and smells of game day without ruining the glow of black and gold is a must.

“The water at Kinnick is hard on the colors, so we had to come up with a detergent that wouldn't make us go through multiple jerseys every season,” he says.

Following a football game, it takes Morris and his assistants six hours to get through the 13 loads (17 in cold weather) of pants, jocks and polyester-nylon jerseys.

As someone who used to deal with bits and pieces of Kinnick's grass field on a weekly basis, Morris is a fan of the stadium's new playing surface.

“The field turf has worked out great,” Morris says. “For one thing, the jerseys really don't get dirty. ... There isn't the grass and mud stains like we used to get.”

Morris says he prefers real grass to field turf because that's what football's supposed to be played on, but he can't argue with how much easier the laundry job has gotten. He sees only one downside to the stadium's 5-month-old turf.

“Pellets,” Morris says, referring to the tiny black rubber balls that lie beneath the green surface. Like sand, they show up everywhere - in the locker room, in the equipment room, in the dryers' lint traps.

Still, Morris doesn't argue when people tell him he's got one of the greatest jobs in the world.

“You get used to (the job), but you don't ever take it for granted,” Morris says. “I'm still excited about it.”