Hlas: On Thomas Gilman, Hawkeye NFLers, 'Fight For Iowa'

Taking vacation so soon before the start of the college football season maybe wasn't the best idea for me professionally, but I couldn't pass on the opportunity to be one of Floyd Mayweather's corner men.

The sports stuff kept coming while I was away, so here's some catching up:

1. Former University of Iowa wrestler earned a silver medal at amateur wrestling's World Championships.

We know Gilman thinks that stinks. Gold or bust is the wrestler's mentality. At least the ones we know around here.

But it's been a sensational year for someone who was wrestling in college less than six months ago. Gilman obliterated the field in the U.S.' World Team Trials, and was the same guy in winning his way to the finals in Paris last week.

You never know who will peak early and who will keep progressing and achieving goals. But Gilman is only 23, and has the mentality of someone who doesn't just stay hungry, but develops even more of a yearning. It's reasonable to expect Gilman to return to the U.S.' team next year and make an impact in Budapest at the World Championships.

2. Iowa Athletic Director Gary Barta announced his department would commit an additional $4 million in athletic revenue toward the UI general fund in the 2017 budget year that just ended and in the new 2018 term.

Those resources will go specifically toward student wellness, diversity and inclusion, and overall student success.

Barta said the department had already been transferring more than $23 million to central campus in the form of tuition and purchased services from UI entities like parking, public safety, utilities, health care, and the residential system.

That was cut and pasted from Vanessa Miller's Gazette story, which can be found here. Vanessa does good work.

This, of course, is what the department should be doing. It never misses a chance to tell you it operates without taking a dime of UI general fund money, without mentioning the real estate, the platform, and the license to exist it gives the department.

Being in the Big Ten Conference in 2017 means Hawkeye sports can have a lot of nice things. Athletic department revenue jumped from $36.2 million last year to a budgeted $50.4 million in the current year thanks to television deals the Big Ten has negotiated.

I haven't heard of the school recently adding sports or athletic scholarships, have you?

For the athletic department to do anything but share in its largesse with the university — which along with its students and their families is faced with a myriad of real-world financial issues — would be unconscionable and unimaginable.

3. Four Iowa players were selected in the 2017 NFL draft, and all may have been undervalued.

The picks were: Quarterback C.J. Beathard (49ers) in the third round, defensive tackle Jaleel Johnson (Vikings) in the fourth round, tight end George Kittle (49ers) and defensive back Desmond King (Chargers) in the fifth round.

If Beathard is the Niners' starter in a couple years and is effective, he went too low. Which would have seemed funny to say during the draft, when we were surprised Beathard was the first Hawkeye taken. But he's looked good through three preseason games.

Granted, Beathard hasn't played against No. 1 defenses in games that count. But to seemingly have claimed his team's No. 2 quarterback job so soon, he's ahead of the curve.

Johnson is a player, pure and simple. So is Kittle. And King. Barring injuries, which are as much a constant in the NFL as shaking down cities for stadium deals, I really think all will be regarded as steals before a lot of time has passed.

How is Iowa as good at quarterback and cornerback this season as it was last season? Has Kirk Ferentz ever had a better one at either position than Beathard or King? No, he has not.

By the way, ex-Hawkeye Jake Rudock has looked good as the Detroit Lions' No. 2 QB. He was a sixth-round pick of Detroit in 2016 and has yet to throw a regular-season pass. He was sharp against New England Saturday night, hitting on 10 of 13 passes for 113 yards.

4. 'Fight For Iowa'

This is the marketing slogan University of Iowa athletics are attaching to everything but the Hawkeyes' official kitchen sink.

OK. Fine.

But I'd have preferred 'Think Coherently For Iowa.' Or 'Effectively Communicate For Iowa.' Or 'Crush It For Iowa.'

I know, I know. Some people are never happy.

And now, college football season.