Monte Pottebaum thriving as Iowa’s latest fullback
By Pat Harty
IOWA CITY, Iowa – He came to Iowa as a walk-on linebacker.
He loves contact.
He’s as tough as they come, the teammate you want by your side in a dangerous, dark alley.
And he embraces a support role that some might consider too painful, too dangerous and too under-appreciated to accept.
Some of you might have already guessed that this column is about Iowa fullback Monte Pottebaum because there isn’t a position that is more overlooked or under-appreciated on the Iowa football team than fullback, at least to the casual observer.
To his teammates, the 6-foot-1, 246-pound Pottebaum is the rough and tough guy who sacrifices his body, his ego, and his desire for attention to help his team.
He plays almost always in traffic where 300-pound bodies collide violently, and where individual toughness is paramount in surviving.
“Monte Pottebaum is extremely critical to our offense,” said junior tight end Sam LaPorta. “I’ll leave it at that. But if I were to elaborate on him a little bit, he’s great runner when we give him the ball and he’s unbelievable without the football in his hands, which I think is very under-appreciated by the average fan whenever you’re watching from the TV.
“The things he does without the football in his hands, the way he blocks, the way he carries himself in our building, it can’t be overstated, the energy he brings to our football team.”
Ninth-ranked Iowa plays at Wisconsin on Saturday, and the Badgers, much like the Hawkeyes, play with more physicality than with style and flash, and are more accustomed to having bone-jarring gains in the trenches than big plays in space.
In other words, Saturday’s game will be a battle of wills and toughness, and Iowa quarterback Spencer Petras is glad that Pottebaum is on his side.
“Especially when you play a team like Wisconsin that has extremely physical linebackers, you need a guy that you can insert in there who can block and hold his own,” Petras said. “A guy like Pott who is as strong as an offensive lineman but runs like a tight end.
“That’s huge, and I’m super happy about how Pott has played all year. And I think we all are. He’s just a great player, and it’s huge in our scheme. He can help us in a lot of ways.”
Petras is in his fourth season at Iowa, so he’s been around several hard-nosed fullbacks.
He admires their toughness and courage, and their willingness to sacrifice their body for the good of the team.
Brady Ross was Iowa’s starting fullback when Petras joined the program in 2018.
Petras sees many similarities between Ross and Pottebaum, although, Ross has trimmed down since his playing days ended.
“There’s a lot of things in life that I’d rather do than try and take on a block from Monte Pottebaum,” Petras said. “I would love to see him and Brady Ross, I know Brady cut down big time. He looks great. But Brady in his prime versus Pott, I think a black hole would form if they hit each other, because I’ve seen some pretty physical fullbacks in my time here. But Pott’s an incredible player.”
Pottebaum was among a select group of Iowa players that met with the media on Tuesday.
And though blocking is by far his primary role, Pottebaum also has 10 rushing attempts for 45 yards this season and three catches for six yards.
Those might not seem like big numbers, but Pottebaum has gained some critical first downs on short plunges into the teeth of the defense, and he had a 2-yard touchdown run against Maryland.
The fourth-year junior runs extremely well for somebody his size, and that combined with his strength makes Pottebaum a weapon that Iowa is starting use in more ways than just blocking.
“Just the kind of explosive athlete he is, he can do more than just block,” Petras said.
The fact that Pottebaum has a mullet also helps him standout and shows that he doesn’t mind being different.
The toughness factor, however, is what really defines Pottebaum, or any Iowa fullback, for that matter.
Pottebaum was asked Tuesday what is the one thing that an Iowa fullback needs more than anything else to be successful.
“Just not being scared to hit anybody,” Pottebaum said. “That’s basically what it comes down to.
“Toughness, and it’s also a mentality that I’m going to throw my body in there for the team and we’ll see what happens.”
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An Iowa fullback has to be willing to do the little things that might not gain him attention, but that are critical to the success of the offense, such as delivering a key block that leads to a big play for someone else.
Some might consider what the fullback does in Iowa’s offense as unappealing, but Pottebaum sees it differently.
“It’s because at the same time you know that you’re helping the team by what you’re doing,” Pottebaum said. “Sometimes, it may go unnoticed. Sometimes, it is noticed.”
Pottebaum switched from linebacker to fullback after his freshman season. It was his way of getting on the field sooner, and his way of filling a need.
“As soon as it happened, I was okay with it and we were ready to roll,” said Pottebaum, who is from the northwest Iowa town of Larchwood.
Iowa is one of few teams that still uses a fullback in today’s age of spread offenses.
“It’s a dying breed, but we’re trying to bring it back to life,” Pottebaum said of the fullback position.
Junior running back Tyler Goodson is one of Pottebaum’s biggest fans, and that makes sense, considering that Goodson benefits immensely from Pottebaum’s presence on the field.’
“In the run game it can be tricky,” Goodson said. “There’s a lot of free run hitters. And so Pott is an extra guy that can take a run hitter away and open up a hole. So him just running through someone’s face like he always does is just amazing for me and gives me confidence and allows me to trust him to open up a hole and make a play.”
Pottebaum was asked Tuesday what he enjoys more between running for a first down or knocking a defender to the ground with a bone-jarring block.
“Probably knocking somebody back on a block, honestly,” he said. “Just knowing that you imposed your physical will over them.
Spoken like a true Iowa fullback.