Iowa quarterback Cade McNamara is ‘100 percent’ healthy, has ‘new perspective on life’

IOWA CITY — Cade McNamara is in a position he has not been in for a long time.

Healthy. And not just healthy-ish - “100 percent” healthy.

“This is my first time since I've been at Iowa where I'm able to participate in every training phase, every activity, every drill,” the veteran Iowa quarterback told reporters on Tuesday. “So far, I'm a little bit more sore than I usually am, but so far my body's handled it very well.”

McNamara’s last fully healthy football season was 2021 — the year his Michigan team routed Iowa, 42-3, in the Big Ten championship game and went to the College Football Playoff.

His 2022 season — already an unusual one as he battled for Michigan’s starting QB spot with J.J. McCarthy, who eventually won the job — ended prematurely with a knee injury that required surgery. McNamara then appeared in five games in 2023 as a Hawkeye before suffering another season-ending knee injury (this time affecting his left knee instead of his right).

More than nine months since suffering his second knee injury in as many years, McNamara’s extended time away from football appears to have afforded him growth opportunities, on and off the field.

The most difficult aspect of his absence was “psychological” and “battling with myself,” McNamara said, as he asked questions like “why has this happened again” or “what led to this injury.”

“I’ve had a lot of spiritual growth in the last few months,” McNamara said. “It’s given me a new perspective on life and a lot of different areas of it. To be honest, I’m very thankful for what has transpired in the last few months, and I think this year is going to be just a really life-changing year for me.”

On the field, McNamara has “changed some things mechanically” with his throwing process and does not “really necessarily need to use 100 percent of my arm strength all the time” anymore.

“Becoming a little bit more rotational, using the ground and really using the muscles that I’ve been able to develop through the rehab process to activate those in my throwing motion,” McNamara said.

That is partly because of the advantages that came with the rehabilitation process for his 2023 left knee injury compared to when he was rehabbing his right knee injury in 2022.

“This rehab, I was actually able to throw a lot more,” McNamara said. “So I feel like I’m a lot further ahead in terms of where my arm is at.”

In the weight room, McNamara “got to the heaviest I’ve ever been in my entire life,” at one point weighing 225 pounds. Now, he is in the “mid-200s to 210.”

“Coach Rai (Braithwaite) and the staff, we really worked on building some lean muscle mass,” McNamara said.

Now McNamara is trying to be “as lean, but also as dense as I possibly can.” After weighing “maybe like 198, 199” pounds at the beginning of last season, he already has noticed the difference.

“I definitely do feel more sturdy, especially in my upper body and my upper legs,” McNamara said.

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With another two weeks until fall camp and six-plus weeks until Iowa’s season opener, how much those changes translate to on-field results obviously remains yet to be seen.

McNamara completed 51.1 percent of passes in his five games as a Hawkeye in 2023 — the worst single-season completion percentage of his career by a significant margin — while throwing four touchdowns and three interceptions. His nagging quad injury, which he suffered during an open practice before the season, likely did not help matters.

Now, though, McNamara has the benefit of being “100 percent” healthy. Well, 100 percent with a bit of an asterisk.

“I’ve been recommended to wear the (knee) brace, so I’m probably going to wear the brace for this season,” McNamara said. “I don’t need the brace. When I’m out here conditioning, when I’m cutting and everything, I’m not using the brace at all honestly.”

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com

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