By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Two of the Big Ten’s greatest linebackers, one past and the other present, will cross paths on Saturday at Ryan Field in Evanston, Ill.

Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald and Iowa senior linebacker Josey Jewell have more in common than Jewell had realized.

Jewell knew that Fitzgerald had played for Northwestern, but little beyond that. Jewell wasn’t aware that Fitzgerald was arguably the nation’s top collegiate linebacker for two years in 1995 and 1996.

Fitzgerald twice made first-team All-America and was the first two-time winner of the Nagurski and Bednarik’s Awards.

“I didn’t watch much of him,” Jewell said of Fitzgerald. “Maybe I should.”

Jewell was named to several mid-season All-America teams and leads the Big Ten with 70 tackles heading into Saturday’s game against Northwestern.

The 6-foot-2, 236-pound Jewell plays middle linebacker much the same way that Fitzgerald did in that he is always on the attack, but also under control and aware of what is happening around him.

Jewell almost always seems to be in the right place at the right time, and if he isn’t, he still often makes the tackle because his motor never stops and because he is more athletic than some realize.

Jewell matched his career high with 16 tackles in back-to-back games against Penn State and Michigan State, and now ranks eighth in program history with 371 tackles.

Fitzgerald started 23 games for Northwestern and totaled 299 tackles. He was averaging 13 tackles per game as a junior in 1995 when he broke his leg against Iowa in the 10th game of the regular season.

Northwestern won the Big Ten title in 1995 and played in the Rose Bowl. But the injury kept Fitzgerald from playing in the Rose Bowl, and the fact that he was injured against Iowa supposedly turned the Hawkeyes from a heated to a hated rival.

Fitzgerald never has admitted that publicly, but the rumor of his disdain for Iowa has festered for years. Some of his players have let things leak out every now and then that helps to fuel the rumor.

But what can’t be disputed is Fitzgerald’s greatness as a linebacker.

“Interesting,” Jewell said. “Maybe I’ll go watch.”

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How they were recruited is another thing that Jewell and Fitzgerald have in common. Or maybe a better way to put it is how they weren’t recruited because neither had a long list of offers.

Legend has it that Iowa wanted Fitzgerald to walk-on, while Northwestern was willing to make him a scholarship offer.

Fitzgerald is from the southwest Chicago suburb of Orland Park, Ill., so Iowa and Northwestern both made sense from a location standpoint.

Jewell likely was headed to Division III Luther College in his hometown of Decorah, or to Northern Iowa on a partial scholarship until Iowa finally offered him a scholarship late in the recruiting process.

Jewell has since developed into one of the best linebackers/stories in 19 seasons under head coach Kirk Ferentz.

And though he loves playing football, and watching it at times, Jewell isn’t consumed by the sport.

Fellow Iowa linebacker Ben Niemann wasn’t surprised when told that Jewell was unaware of Fitzgerald success as a Northwestern linebacker.

“He’s just kind of in his own world, sometimes," Niemann said of Jewell.

Niemann didn’t mean that to be negative.

It was just his way of saying that Jewell beats to his own drum and focuses almost exclusively on the now.

More than two decades have passed since Fitzgerald played for Northwestern. Jewell was born on Christmas Day 1994, so he barely was two years old when Fitzgerald's college career ended.

Jewell grew up on a farm, while Niemann grew up as the son of a college football coach.

Niemann knew that Fitzgerald was a star linebacker at Northwestern, and that the Big Ten has an award named after Fitzgerald, partly because of the environment in which Niemann was raised.

Win or lose, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Fitzgerald made it a point to find Jewell on the field after Saturday’s game to congratulate him for his success because greatness appreciates greatness.

Jewell might represent the enemy, but he also represents much of what Fitzgerald stood for as a star middle linebacker in the mid-1990s.

Jewell hasn’t indicated whether he has any thoughts about coaching after his playing days are over. But if would choose that route, he’d probably excel, because much like Fitzgerald, Jewell has a knack for getting the job done.

Fitzgerald has led his alma mater to seven bowl games in 11 seasons as head coach and guided the Wildcats to two of their three bowl wins in program history.

He is loved by Northwestern fans, just like Jewell is loved by Iowa fans.