Boettger excited about offer

Cedar Falls native Ike Boettger went to Iowa's camp last week looking to throw the ball around as a quarterback prospect, but those plans quickly changed. Before long, the 6-foot-5, 220-pound Boettger was working out at tight end and performing so well that the Hawkeyes ended up offering him a scholarship to play the position in college.

"Originally, I went down to Iowa's camp on Friday as a quarterback, but they already have a quarterback commit in my class so they asked if I could try tight end," said Boettger. "I didn't have my pads with me, but I ran some routes and caught some passes and after the day was over they invited me to come back."

"So I came back on Monday with my pads and did some blocking plus ran some more routes and caught some passes," he continued. "They told me they would let me know and one day later I got the offer."

The offer is the first for the Class of 2013 prospect, so needless to say Boettger, who grew up a Hawkeye fan, was pretty excited to hear the news on Tuesday.

"I was very excited about it," Boettger said. "I've been dreaming of playing college football my whole life, especially at Iowa. It would be a dream come true to play for the Hawkeyes."

Still, Boettger is not going to be one to rush into a decision. He is going to do his research first, including another visit to Iowa's campus, and make sure that Iowa is the best fit for him.

"As a family, we talked last night and we're not going to make a decision for at least a couple of weeks," said Boettger. "We want to take another visit to Iowa to see the academic side of things first, so we're going to try to schedule that in the next two weeks."

"I really like Iowa, love the coaches, love Coach Ferentz, and love the atmosphere, but I still have to check everything out before I make my decision because you're talking about the next four or five years of my life."

As far as his position in college, Boettger says that he has no problem with tight end. He actually played there as a freshman, but moved to quarterback his sophomore year. Now, he is open to playing anywhere in college.

"I told the coaches I'll play whatever position you want me at," Boettger said. "People always ask me if I'm a tight end anyway and say I have the build for it because I'm 6-5, 220. Also I've played basketball my whole life, so I have pretty good hands too. I'll have to learn how to block, but I've always liked catching the ball."