Chuck Long: Destined for Greatness

The Story of Chuck Long and Resurgence of Iowa Hawkeyes Football

By: Aaron Putze

Narrated by: Aaron Putze

Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

The year is 1981. And the Iowa Hawkeyes are struggling mightily to gain respectability on the football field after decades as a Big Ten Conference doormat.

Hayden Fry, a larger-than-life character and river boat gambler with Texas roots, had arrived in Iowa City in 1979. Now, in his all-important third year as head coach, it’s make-or-break time for a man doggedly determined to transform a beleaguered program into a national powerhouse. While the team has many needs, one of the most important is a strong leader at quarterback. Unexpectedly, Hayden and his staff sign a blonde-haired, six-foot-four quarterback named Chuck Long. Safe to say, the son of Charlie and Joan Long was as much a mystery to Iowa fans as winning.

Only two other universities offered Chuck a scholarship - Northwestern and Northern Illinois. The lack of suiters wasn’t surprising. Chuck averaged just a handful of throws per start as a high school signal caller for a Falcons team coached by Jim Rexilius. Even in Wheaton North’s 14-6 victory over LaSalle-Peru in the 1979 4A Illinois state football championship game, Chuck completed just one of four passes for minus-three yards. Now, Chuck Long is an Iowa Hawkeye. And as he waits to make first team as quarterback, Coach Hayden Fry takes to the microphones as the 1982 campaign approaches and, in front of a gaggle of reporters, proclaims the sophomore-to-be as “destined for greatness”.

Reporters are nearly speechless. Hawkeye fans are bewildered. Chuck Long? Destined for greatness? Chuck Long - the same kid who hasn’t taken a snap as a starter? Yep, that Chuck Long. The QB responds to the high praise from his head coach by taking the field just weeks later in his first start against the Nebraska Cornhuskers in Lincoln only to get bruised, battered, and benched in a 42-7 drubbing. One week later, the Hawkeyes host in-state rival Iowa State and lose again as Chuck watches from the sidelines. So much for the “destined for greatness” talk. Then again, Chuck Long isn’t your ordinary quarterback, and Hayden Fry isn’t your ordinary coach.

In a twist of fate not even Hollywood could script, Chuck and the Iowa Hawkeyes quickly right the ship and set sail on a voyage that would ultimately take them (and the state of Iowa) into the national spotlight. At the heart of it all was a once-obscure quarterback who played for a high school football program that featured the run - a quarterback that would become Iowa’s most celebrated signal callers, play in an unprecedented five college bowl games, throw for more yards than any other quarterback in Big Ten history, finish runner-up for the Heisman Trophy to a kid named Bo from Auburn University and hear his name called in the first round of the 1986 NFL Draft.

©2017 Aaron Putze (P)2018 Aaron Putze

Rough but entertaining

I generally don't write long Audible reviews, but I think you need to understand what you're buying. The story itself was interesting... I enjoyed reliving the games that Long played at Iowa in my childhood. However, the text itself is virtually unedited, and the audio performance is completely unedited. Seriously... There are times when the author reads a line and immediately repeats the entire line, seemingly because he thought he would remove it in editing and leave the better version. There was no editing. So... If you think of this as a very rough podcast for a niche market, you'll be pleased. If you think you're getting a polished product, you're not.

Loved reliving the memories of Iowa football in the 80’s!

If you like Iowa football, you have to get this book. But if you are a fan of football, you will also enjoy this book. It’s a great story of a humble player who helped turn around an entire state during a difficult time, and put a football program solidly on the map. At first, I was disappointed that Chuck doesn’t read the book, but it’s written as an autobiography, so it didn’t make sense. He does make a cameo at the end to thank the media.

Minimal insight

Mostly game reviews and quotations from previous articles. No true insight to what was going on behind the scenes. Also, many misreads were left in, needs editing.