Robert Gallery humbled by his place in Hawkeye history
By Pat Harty
IOWA CITY, Iowa – All was quiet as Robert Gallery and members of his family looked out from the press box at Kinnick Stadium to the field where he became a star and where his life changed dramatically.
From committing to Hayden Fry as a skinny tight end from East Buchanon High School to developing into one of the greatest offensive linemen in program history under Kirk Ferentz, Gallery’s career as an Iowa football player is the stuff of legends.
And now he’s being recognized for everything he accomplished as a Hawkeye two decades ago.
In addition to being a 2023 College Hall of Fame inductee, Gallery will also have his No. 78 added to the Ring of Honor this weekend, and he will serve as Iowa’s honorary captain for the Michigan State game on Saturday at Kinnick Stadium.
Gallery will accompany the Iowa captains to midfield for Saturday’s pregame coin toss. He will also be with the Hawkeyes in the locker room before and after the game.
“It’s kind of an accumulation of a lot of years and it’s pretty humbling to be going up in the stadium, obviously, with all those other great names and to be going into the College Hall of Fame,” Gallery said at a Thursday press conference.”
Gallery is especially proud of being added to Iowa’s Ring of Honor.
“I think that hit me the most,” he said. “That will be up there when I’m far gone.”
Gallery said he never really took the time to appreciate what he accomplished as Hawkeye while it was happening.
But now that his playing days are over, he can look back and feel proud about his Hawkeye career.
“Now I get to enjoy it,” he said. “All my years of playing in college and the pros and all that, you never really sit and enjoy it, or bask in it I should say. But now it’s like, okay, wow, you think about it and you don’t have to move on to something else.”
Gallery’s main focus now is being a good husband and father to his three children.
He is married to former Iowa women’s basketball player Becca McCann and they live in the mountains near Lake Tahoe, California.
“My job now is to be at my best as a parent,” Gallery said. “Physically, mentally, you don’t lose those things you learned in college especially, and even before that.
“Those things that you can’t get rid of. I never missed a meeting in my life and was never late. I know my kids think I’m crazy, but it’s the same thing whether we’re going to the school bus and wanting to be early. I think it’s great stuff. It’s life lessons. So, a lot of things I took from all those years playing are still with me.”
Gallery is grateful for all the people that helped him along the way because he knows he couldn’t have accomplished what he did without them.
“The reality is those things don’t happen if you don’t have good teams, good coaches and good teammates,” he said. “All the linemen I played with and the teams we had, that’s the reality of making those things happen. So, I’ very thankful for all those guys that were part of my career.”
Gallery is the younger brother of former Iowa All-Big Ten punter Nick Gallery, who played for Hayden Fry from 1993 to 1996.
His younger brother, John Gallery, also played for Iowa under Kirk Ferentz.
Iowa has only had two head coaches since 1979, and Robert Gallery has a connection to both of them.
“Because of my brother Nick, I got to know coach Fry and his staff,” Robert Gallery said. “It’s pretty crazy to think that two coaches since before I was here have been here for that many years.”
Gallery was recruited by former Iowa defensive coordinator Bobby Elliott and he committed to Iowa in 1998. But then Fry retired shortly after the 1998 season, leaving Gallery uncertain about his future.
“For a little bit I was wondering what was going to happen,” Gallery said. “But then I got a call from coach Ferentz’s staff and they kept the scholarship offer.”
That would prove to be a wise decision as Gallery would go on to become a three-time first-team All-Big Ten selection for the Hawkeyes. He also earned Academic All-Big Ten honors for three consecutive seasons and was inducted into the University of Iowa Athletics Hall of Fame in 2017.
Iowa won a share of the Big Ten title in Gallery’s junior season in 2002, and then finished 10-3 in his senior season in 2003.
He also won the Outland Trophy in 2003 as the nation’s best collegiate interior lineman.
He was then added to Iowa’s America Needs Farmers Wall of Honor at Kinnick Stadium in 2015, recognizing student-athletes for their tenacity, work ethic and exemplifying the character of American farmers.
Gallery was drafted second overall by the Oakland Raiders in the 2004 NFL Draft, and he played 104 career games with the Raiders (2004-10) and Seahawks (2011), starting all but one contest.
“The times are different now, but I wasn’t that kid in high school thinking about going to the pros,” Gallery said. “High school football was the biggest thing there was and the opportunity to play in college. You never think ahead of these things. I didn’t set out in college wanting to be in the Hall of Fame. I wanted to be the best I could be, and I wanted to push myself to accomplish everything and anything. But to think about it now, obviously, is very humbling. It’s hard to believe until you see your name up there.”
And though Gallery came to Iowa as a 6-foot-7 tight end, he figured it would only be a matter of time before he switched to the offensive line.
He made the switch three games into his redshirt freshman season in 2000.
“I knew it was coming,” he said. “I think I was smart enough at that point, not that I was that smart, but I was 6-7 and had a huge frame. I was fast for who I was, but I knew with my frame and build, and then the strength staff, I started putting weight on and muscle, I figured at some point. But I didn’t really think about it. When is this going to happen?
“I don’t think I was ready for it. But I figured at some point it might happen. I was also like tell me what to do.”
Gallery has lost about 60 pounds since retired from the NFL after the 2012 season. He also wears his hair short these days, unlike his playing days when his hair stretched to the middle of his back.
He weighed about 325 pounds when he left Iowa for the NFL, but his body transformation didn’t come easy, nor did his success on the field.
“I’ve told some people, the reality is I wasn’t that talented,” Gallery said. “There’s guys that can get out of bed, walk on the field and just be technicians. Their athletic ability is through the roof. I had to work for it. Not that everybody doesn’t work for it. But I had to rep after rep. I remember in college, even into my senior year, before games just taking steps and hand placement. It was every day because that’s who I was.
“I wasn’t a guy who could not practice for a week and I’m just going to go out there and it will be flawless. So, I think that part of it is the most meaningful for me. The work that went into it. I’m very thankful, and yes, I had some athletic ability, but the work I had to put in is the thing I’ll remember the most.”
Gallery would go on to play for nine seasons in the NFL, but his teams never made the playoffs.
That’s part of the risk for a player that gets selected so high in the draft because the team, in this case the Oakland Raiders, struggled the year before.
“Would I have liked to have been in the playoffs and won Super Bowls and done a bunch of other things that I had my sights set on? Absolutely,” Gallery said. “But the reality is I had five head coaches in seven years in Oakland.”
“It’s a business. There are things that happen. You want to write the story all the way to the end. But I’m very blessed to have played as long as I did and to have learned the things that I did and met the people that I met. So, I’m very proud of it.”