CHICAGO – Iowa quarterback Nate Stanley made history on Tuesday.

For just the second time in Kirk Ferentz's 20-year tenure as head coach he took a junior with him to Big Ten media day in Chicago.

What makes Stanley's appearance different than that of former linebacker Josey Jewell's two years ago, is that Stanley is a third-year junior, whereas Jewell had taken a redshirt year.

It is also believed that Stanley and Jewell are the first two players in program history to be selected as team captains after their sophomore seasons.

"I think that in itself and significant," Ferentz said. "He is a second underclassmen we brought up here, Josey Jewell being the other, and as far as we know, they're the only two juniors in the history of the program that have been selected captains after their sophomore seasons by their team.

The 6-foot-4, 242-pound Stanley's journey to this point is made more impressive by the fact that at this time last year, he was still battling for the starting spot with Tyler Wiegers.

Stanley, a native of Menomonie, Wis., went on to have one of the more productive seasons by an Iowa quarterback in recent memory, completing nearly 56 percent of his passes for 2,437 yards along with 26 touchdowns and just six interceptions.

The 26 touchdowns are the second most all-time in a single season in program history.

"We have a lot of captains in December, it's a total team vote. So I think that just tells you how far Nate came last year, from being a guy we weren't sure was going to start in August, at this time last year we didn't know who our starter was, and really had a good season. But most important, I think he's gained the respect and confidence of his teammates."

Here are several videos of Stanley, Matt Nelson and Parker Hesse from media day on Tuesday.

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