A.J. Edds ready to try to join buddy Pat Angerer as a linebacker who matters in the NFL

BETTENDORF - Other theories abound, but you can't deny this reason for Iowa football slipping from 11-2 in 2009 to 8-5 last season:

The Hawkeyes didn't have Pat Angerer and A.J. Edds.

As good as Iowa's defensive line and secondary were in ‘09, the heart of the Hawkeyes' defense was its linebacking corps. Angerer was good enough to be the Indianapolis Colts' second-round draft pick last year. The Miami Dolphins took Edds two rounds later.

Their rookie-season fortunes were as far apart as Indianapolis and Miami. Angerer tore into the Colts' starting lineup in Week 6 because and stayed there. Edds tore the ACL in his right knee in the first week of the Dolphins' training camp and was on injured reserve all season.

“A.J. looked like he had some really good promise,” Miami Coach Tony Sparano said after Edds' injury. “A.J. will bounce back from this.”

Both linebackers are upright and teaching kids some football at the Legends of Iowa camp at Bettendorf High School Tuesday through Thursday this week, on a staff with about two dozen other ex-Hawkeyes from teams of the last few decades.

Edds and Angerer will appear at Iowa Day at the John Deere Classic golf tournament Thursday on the other side of the Mississippi River (Edds is pals with PGA Tour player Zach Johnson of Cedar Rapids), and the two are planning to golf together elsewhere in the Quad Cities later that day.

They're on a possibly extended summer vacation since the NFL's player lockout has yet to be resolved. They would prefer to see training camps open on time later this month after doing what they could this spring and summer without the use of their teams' facilities.

“I started training up in Iowa City on March 9 (three days before the lockout began),” Bettendorf High grad Angerer said.

“I spent some time with teammates in Florida, doing some workouts,” said Edds. “Recently, I just got back to working out in Iowa City with Coach (Chris) Doyle. An asset like that, I'd be crazy not to try to utilize it.”

Angerer got his career off to a nice beginning with 11 regular-season starts and another in the playoffs. With injuries burdening Indy's defense, Angerer stepped in and had 11 tackles in his first start.

“I was lucky enough to get on the field during games and during tough situations,” he said. “You can't beat that. I was very fortunate starting a couple of games, and I'm definitely better off than I was a year ago.”

Edds, meanwhile, began his NFL career in eerily similar style to fellow former Hawkeye linebacker Chad Greenway. Now an established Minnesota Vikings veteran, Greenway tore an ACL in the Vikings' first preseason game of 2006 and missed the rest of the season. He wasted little time jumping into the action the following season, and has been a stalwart since.

“I was able to sit back and learn and really watch guys on our team that were successful on and off the field, and guys that weren't because they didn't quite live up to the potential that they have,” Edds said.

“Obviously, you never want to get injured and you never want to sit out and watch. But I think it's really going to end up being a learning experience that helps me down the road. It's something that really rekindled the fire within myself, the love and passion for the game. Because having something taken away from you in the snap of your fingers is tough.”

Neither player seems to be sweating the lockout. “All you can control is what shape you're in,” Angerer said. “That's what I'm trying to do, just trying to stay in shape.”

But it's not football shape.

“You're never in football shape until you get on the practice field, put pads on,” Edds said.

The lockout will get resolved soon enough. Come October, life will be super-hectic for Angerer. That's when his wife, Mary (his significant other dating back to Bettendorf High days), is due to give birth to their first child, a boy.

“I'm pretty fired up,” Angerer said. “It's something so great, I can't wait.”