By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Marv Cook was our guest on the Hawk Fanatic radio show and podcast on Friday, and it truly was a pleasure listening to him reminisce about his playing days, and about how Hayden Fry helped change his life.

Not just Hayden Fry, but all of the coaches who helped Cook achieve greatness as a football player, because Cook would be the first to say that it was a group effort.

But it was Fry who put Cook on the big stage, and Iowa’s decision to play Cook at tight end is one of many examples of why Fry did the improbable by finally ending Iowa’s misery in football.

Hope was fading when Fry was hired shortly after the 1978 season.

This time, however, Bump Elliott finally got it right by hiring Fry, and the rest is history that Hawkeye fans will cherish forever.

And Cook is a big part of that history as Iowa’s first consensus All-America tight end, and one of just two in program history.

Cook achieved that distinction as a senior in 1988, while Dallas Clark was a consensus All-America tight end for Iowa in 2002.

Cook’s interview lasted for about 40 minutes, and there were times when he seemed emotional as he talked about how Fry changed his life, by first believing in him and by giving him a scholarship.

Cook was a big-boned bundle of talent from West Branch, but he played quarterback in high school, so the switch to tight end was sort of a leap of faith.

Cook wasn’t equipped to play quarterback at the Big Ten level, but standing 6-foot-4, and with a frame that could easily carry 230 to 240 pounds, he fit the description of what Fry and assistant coach Don Patterson envisioned for a tight end.

Fry helped crush the three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust phrase that was used to describe Big Ten football when he arrived at Iowa, and he did so with help from the tight end position.

Fry drew attention right away by having his tight end stand on the line of scrimmage, and eyes have stayed focused on the position ever since, throughout Fry’s 20-year reign, and under current head coach Kirk Ferentz, who is entering his 23^rd season.

Cook told a number of stories during Friday’s interview, including the first time he stood near veteran tight ends Paul Hufford and Jonathan Hayes.

It was late summer 1984 and Cook had just joined the team as a 190-pound true freshman from West Branch.

Cook looked at the two fully developed men standing next to him, with Hufford weighing about 230 pounds and Hayes about 240, and wondered what he had gotten himself into, and how would he ever survive.

Cook survived by staying the course, by working and sacrificing, and by listening to his coaches on a daily basis.

Success didn’t come right away, but eventually it came because Cook believed in himself, and because he believed in those around him.

Of course, Cook also had talent or he wouldn’t been offered a scholarship in the first place.

But talent doesn’t always get developed properly, or used in the right way.

But in Cook’s case, Iowa pushed all the right buttons.

Cook would go on to play seven seasons in the NFL, earning All-Pro recognition, and has lived in Iowa City since retiring from the NFL.

Cook has stayed connected to football as the head coach for Iowa City Regina where he has won seven state titles. Or as Cook would say, where they have won seven state titles.

Cook is always quick to point out that football is a team sport, and that winning with your teammates is the greatest feeling.

Marv Cook’s rise to stardom is what college football should be all about.

The sport, and the people connected to the sport, helped change the course of his life.

Cook’s 1987 touchdown catch against Ohio State in Columbus is one of the most famous and talked-about plays in program history, and deservedly so.

It was the stuff of legends, and you could tell from listening to Cook on Friday that the play still means so much to him 34 years later. He and his teammates pulled off a football miracle, and the story only gets better over time

So take some time to listen to Marv Cook on Friday’s podcast because it has a little bit of everything, from Hawkeye history to funny stories to looking back at the catch against Ohio State.