Vote for Beathard

CHICAGO - When C.J. Beathard had his long, blond locks, Drew Ott claims he would sometimes braid his hair.

Ott, Iowa's senior defensive end and a resident comedic genius, may or may not have actually done that. He sure sold the bit during Thursday's Big Ten media days interviews.

'I used to braid his hair all of the time,” Ott said, straight-faced. 'Now that he cut it off, we don't hang out as much . . . No, yes, I hang out with him. He was one of the first guys I met on campus. I've gotten to know him pretty well.”

It seems 95 percent sure that the braid thing probably didn't happen. Still, one of the fun, weird things in Chicago was Ott eating a raw egg, including the shell, for ESPN cameras. He said it was for the calcium and because he didn't want to wash dishes.

That's a whole other topic. The takeaway here is that Beathard, Iowa's newly installed starting QB, seems to have connections with all 105 players on Iowa's roster.

Coming off a practice field on a random Tuesday in Florida while preparing for the TaxSlayer Bowl, Beathard walked with former Iowa punter Connor Kornbrath and backup kicker Mick Ellis. There is an Instagram shot this winter that had him playing some pond hockey with former Iowa fullback John Kenny.

During spring break in March, Beathard took senior free safety Jordan Lomax to his home in Nashville, Tenn.

'It was nice to spend time with him and his family,” Lomax said. 'It's a really great family. They're a big country music family and that was nice. I got hip to a lot of country music.”

The instinct here, of course, is to pitch Beathard as the 'people's QB,” a friend to everyone. He loves dogs and children and he wants your vote for mayor. And then contrast that with Jake Rudock, the pre-med student who transferred to Michigan this spring after Beathard was named Iowa's starter for 2015 in January. Rudock was serious, analytical. He was Dr. Quarterback with a diagnosis of serious business.

This isn't that story. Rudock is in Ann Arbor. He's not here to defend himself. Wish him the best and let's talk Beathard, who, by all accounts, really is a nice guy.

'That's probably a family trait,” head coach Kirk Ferentz said. 'It's a great, great family. I know his granddad (former NFL general manager Bobby Beathard) well and his parents. It starts there, but he has a good heart. He looks at the world in a way you'd hope all people do. He cares a lot about the people he's around. That's a good starting place.”

What did Ferentz mean when he said Beathard looks at the world in a way he wishes other people would?

'He's an other-people oriented guy,” Ferentz said. 'He's cognizant of others in a good way. He does what he does, but he's very aware. He's a great teammate and he's very unselfish. Even cutting his hair, it was a charity thing, which didn't surprise me. He's been raised right. He's got a lot of empathy for people. He's demonstrated a lot of maturity in these six or eight months. It's been fun to watch him.”

The haircut happened earlier this summer. It was indeed a charitable act. This, from Beathard's Instagram account: 'Three years later and it was finally long enough to give to Wigs For Kids! Gonna miss the flow but glad I could help out a good cause! #noflow #cancersucks #goshawks.”

You just know he loves dogs and children and wants your support for mayor.

'I think it's the personality he's got and the way he's been raised,” center Austin Blythe said. 'I can't really say much more than that. That's the bottom line. That's just the kind of guy C.J. is. It's been fun getting to know him a little better.”

This is all the nicey nice, and it's certainly nice. On the field? Beathard barely has career stats. Ferentz and staff decided they had seen enough to announce a depth chart change in January. We have that to go on, a pretty great second-half comeback at Pitt and a winning start at Purdue.

Iowa's QBs, receivers and running backs have been playing 7-on-7 all summer against Iowa's defensive backs. They've probably seen more of Beathard in these two months than the outside world has in games.

'C.J. definitely keeps you on your A game,” Lomax said. 'You can still be covering a guy and he'll still give the receiver a chance to make a play. In a lot of plays, most defensive backs will think they're good (in good position to make the play), but he puts the ball in the air in a place that makes you start panicking and then you have a flag. C.J. will definitely give his guys a chance to make a play. . . . His arm strength is amazing and he really does use his legs to get out of the pocket and keep plays alive.”

Blythe doesn't see 7-on-7s, he's busy with agility drills. But he has seen practice and here's his endorsement.

'Some of the throws he makes are kind of jaw-dropping,” Blythe said. 'He's throwing off his back foot and just throwing darts. He drops in long balls, everything. He's a very talented guy.”

Is Beathard's arm a tool that can change this offense?

'I think anytime you have a quarterback who can throw the deep ball and throw it well, it's going to keep teams more honest,” Blythe said. 'They're not going to be able to bring a safety up (to the line of scrimmage to stop the run) or blitz a safety. Instead of eight or nine in the box (on the line of scrimmage), you'll see six or seven. That's the hope anyway, the idea. It'll be fun.”

Vote for change, vote for Beathard. Good for the Hawkeyes' offense, good for America.

l Comments: (319) 398-8256; marc.morehouse@thegazette.com