Ricky Stanzi all smiles in Kinnick Stadium return

IOWA CITY - Ricky Stanzi heard his name called twice for every step he took on the Kinnick Stadium turf an hour before Saturday's game.

He stopped to shake hands. He stopped to take pictures. He gave hugs and high-fives. It's almost as if the former Iowa quarterback never left.

"I feel like I haven't been here forever," Stanzi said. "It hasn't been that long, though."

Stanzi is a back-up quarterback with the Kansas City Chiefs, who drafted him in the fifth round last April. He has yet to play this season.

The Chiefs are idle this week, which provided Stanzi the opportunity to return to Iowa City. He and his girlfriend drove up Friday and met with his mother and brother.

"I figured I'd pop in. It was great timing with the home game," he said. "It's actually the first game I've ever really watched.

"Being removed just a little bit. you forget how much you loved it. It's just awesome to be back and see everybody."

Iowa quarterback James Vandenberg, who served as Stanzi's understudy the last two seasons, said he was glad to see Stanzi on the sideline.

"I saw him yesterday, and I saw him before the game, and I'm trying to hang out with him after this," Vandenberg said. "He's a really good friend of mine, and I hadn't seen him for a while so it was good to see him."

Stanzi finished his Iowa career 26-9 as a starter and threw for 7,377 yards. He' set an Iowa record by throwing touchdown passes in 21 consecutive games.

He said his time at Iowa helped prepare him for the grind of pro football as well as the daily approach.

"It's a long season," Stanzi said. "Including our preseason - we've already played about nine games - which is crazy. It's a long season, but it's the same mentality that we had here; you want to take it one game at a time. It's cliche, but it's really how it has to go.

"It's a different culture obviously; things are a little different in certain areas. But I mean when you get down to it, you're playing football and you've got to remember to have fun. You've got to remember to compete and go out and try to get better every day. That's really the bottom line."