The absence of Brandon Wegher

Sophomore running back Brandon Wegher who played in 12 games of the 2009 football season has been absent from the training and practice sessions at fall camp 2010. He holds the Iowa freshman record for rushing touchdowns, scoring eight in all. He is third in that same group for his total of 641 rushing yards and in fourth place for his 967 all-purpose yards. In the records of the Big Ten he copped no 8 for scoring (4-0) and no. 10 for yards rushed (53.4). Wegher was also one of the three freshmen to see action during the 2009 season.

For reasons that coach Kirk Ferentz would not disclose, he has not been seen on camp since last Saturday, August 7, 2010. The coach has nothing to say about the events until the end of the team’s public practice, scheduled on the 14th of August, 2010, Saturday.

The only thing coach cared to reveal was that Wegher was attending to matters of personal importance. The coach assured that the athlete would very soon return to camp to resume his practice.

It cannot have been a serious matter that called Wegher away as the coach does not seem disturbed about the incident at all. He has not dropped any hints that the sophomore will no longer be part of his group of ‘three experienced running backs.’

The Iowa Hawkeyes ranked no. 5 by Playboy Sports Magazine

Editor Gary Cole of Playboy Sports ranked the Hawkeyes in fifth position at the 54th Annual College Football Pigskin Preview. Above Iowa are Ohio State, Texas, Alabama and Boise State. Other teams included in the list are Wisconsin which landed in slot 8 and is also a member of the Big Ten, Nebraska, soon to be with the Big Ten was in slot 12 with Georgia State in slot 25.

The editor’s pick for the team with the most chances to win is Ohio State. He says that following their win over the Longhorns, they will come out national winner in the championships.

Clayborn chooses to stay with the Hawkeyes

The games last season were successful for Hawkeyes defensive end Adrian Clayborn. However, he did not join the 2010 NFL draft for personal reasons. Some things happened after the games which made the athlete hesitate to occupy an NFL position. He wants to wait a bit before getting there.

After the praise and fame of last season, he figured in an incident in which he punched a cab driver for calling him with the ‘N-word.’ He was subsequently charged and pleaded guilty to a charge of disorderly conduct.

After that incident, Clayborn noticed that a woman was following him in his trips to Iowa City and even when he went into Kinnick stadium. The stalking went on for some months until the woman was apprehended and thrown into jail.

That series of mishaps led to Clayborn’s foregoing the 2010 NFL draft. He thinks he needs time to mellow before doing that.

It is ironical that as a child, he had been assessed by their family doctor as not having the constitution for contact sports. He recommended that he should avoid them. His mother did her best to discourage him from playing football and was definitely against his becoming a football professional.

What Clayburn regards as his unfinished business may have a lot to do with the time he spends with hospitalized kids and with young athletes. The community where he resides admires him greatly for deciding to stay with the Iowa Hawkeyes as well as for his attachment to other children.

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