Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz expects many of the Hawkeyes who took to the field for him last fall to be selected in the N-F-L draft this weekend. Ferentz says it’s going to be a very busy weekend, and he predicts between seven to ten players will have a chance to go to an N-F-L camp. An offensive lineman is perhaps the hottest prospect. Ferentz says Eric Steinbach will be the first guy to “come off the board,” tight end Dallas Clark will be “right there with him,” and Bruce Nelson won’t be too far behind. Ferentz says it’s a great complement to those guys that they’ll be drafted so high. Ferentz, a former assistant in the pros, has some advice for his players. Ferentz says getting their college degree is their “best bet” long-term. And Ferentz says they need to realize the pros aren’t the same as college. He says every pro player who’s come back to talk to the Hawkeyes has told the guys their most enjoyable time on the gridiron came in college.Ferentz says getting to the pros is a great opportunity, and the money’s great but the bottom line is it’s a “very short term profession.” He says the players will learn it’s all business, and “people up there really don’t care about your feelings.” Ferentz describes it as a “new world” and advises the players to “go into it with their eyes open.” But Ferentz says the reality is no matter how good they are or how long they play, an N-F-L career doesn’t last that long and “they’ll be back with the rest of us working” shortly thereafter.
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