Our Hawkeye Conversations series kicks off with a visit with Brandon Myers. The Iowa native looks back at his recruiting process and picking up a late offer from this dream school, the University of Iowa.

We look back at this playing career with the Hawkeyes and some of the memorable moments he experienced and the NFL Draft process he went through after his college career ended. Then we wrap up discussing his eight year NFL career, his time with the Oakland Raiders, and his new business that he started one year ago in the Phoenix area. Learn more about his new business at this link.

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Q: Let’s start with your recruitment because that was interesting. Initially you were committed to UNI.

MYERS: That’s right. Iowa was in a numbers game and they were waiting on a couple of guys and then things kind of fell in my favor.

I wanted to go to Iowa since I was a kid, but UNI was the first school to step up and offer me a scholarship. I just kind of jumped on it because I had promised my parents that I would get a free education in college.

Then when Iowa offered it was a really tough decision I told Coach Farley that I wanted to be a man of my word, but when Coach Ferentz gets on the phone with me and my parents it was tough to say no to him.

Q: How important was Reese Morgan in being straight forward with you in the process from Iowa’s perspective?

MYERS: I don’t know what I would have done without Coach Morgan. He spent hours and hours during the recruiting process talking to me and my family. That’s just the type of person he is. He made you feel like they really wanted you even though there were pieces that were moving. He was totally transparent with us and he made it easy for me once I decided to go with Iowa.

Q: One thing you had to decide earlier in the process was that you gave up pursuing basketball as a college option and you were a really good player.

MYERS: It was a tough call. I tell people all the time I grew up on a farm and it was one of those sports that if you wanted to practice on your own, you could do that. I really couldn’t just go down the street and play with my friends because we were on a farm, so I grew up just shooting baskets at home.

I ended up being ok at basketball, but once I went to a couple of big camps, I realized what while I could play basketball, my future and my ceiling wouldn’t be as high for basketball as it was for football.

Q: So it was just a bigger thing at a bigger school than a shot at a smaller school playing basketball?

MYERS: That’s right. I have told this story, when I was growing up on a farm and being out with my grandpa we would listen to the Iowa teams in the tractor and being able to play for the Hawkeyes was something I always dreamed of doing.

Q: Did you know you are still in the Top 20 in scoring all-time in the state of Iowa for basketball?

MYERS: I didn’t know that. A little story, so this year I got a call that I was being inducted into the high school basketball hall of fame for the state of Iowa and I really hadn’t thought about that for a long time. It was kind of nice to go back and talk to some of my former teammates and coaches and thinking about those days.

Q: So you get to Iowa in the Class of 2004. That was a pretty good in-state group with you, Brodell, King, and Kroul. But, it was so different than today where guys are kind of connected already. Did you know any of those guys when you came in or did you have to get to know each other?

MYERS: Kind of a little of both. I think I went to one Iowa football camp and they were there, so I got to know them a little bit. I wasn’t really heavily recruited, so I wasn’t there for more than a couple of games during the season.

Once we got there I got to know everyone and it was a great class. I got to know all those guys and have fond memories of the guys in that class.

Q: These days the most famous guy to most of the world from that recruiting class is Ettore Ewen, who is now known as Big E in the WWE.

MYERS: It’s crazy you said that because I just messaged him this week. We have some friends down here in Arizona and they have boys who are big wrestling fans. So here I am. I played at Iowa and in the NFL and they think that’s cool, but they think it’s really cool that I know Big E. They light up when I said he came to Iowa with him.

He was so quiet when he was at Iowa and now you see his personality coming out on TV.

Q: Can you discuss learning the ropes in those early years at tight end? I think Eric Johnson was your position coach at that point.

MYERS: Yeah, he was the coach and the senior that year was Tony Jackson. We had also just converted Scott Chandler to tight end. I think that kind of tricked him into moving. (Laugh) They sold it as an H-Back type thing. C.J. Barkema was also a tackle and tight end and we also had Ryan Majerus. It was a good room.

I was probably fine athletically at the position, but I don’t think I really realized what I had to do with everything else. Coming out of high school we didn’t have 7 on 7 and we were literally practicing against garbage cans sometimes in practice. It wasn’t an easy transition and it probably took me a couple of years to get acclimated at Iowa. Coach Ferentz runs a pro style program and once I figured that out it was good. One thing I look back on is that in that group, everyone was in it together. We all helped each other out and gave each other pointers.

Q: The toughest transition was probably becoming a blocker because I’m guessing you didn’t have to do a lot of that at the high school level and blocking giant defensive ends and linebackers is the Big Ten is a whole different animal.

MYERS: The first day of practice you have Matt Roth lining up over you, then you learn real quick that there’s a lot that goes into blocking. There were a lot of days I left the field wondering if I could figure this out?

A lot of credit goes to the coaches. They were patient and I got my fair share of reps and repeats and a few talks from the coaches. It wasn’t something that was natural for me because I had never done it, so it took me some time. I realized real quick that if you couldn’t block, it really didn’t matter what else you could do.

Q: Everyone has a Matt Roth story…

MYERS: I have a lot of Matt Roth stories. (laugh)

Q: Any of them that you can safely tell?

MYERS: My favorite one was during my true freshman year. We had some injuries at tight end and I was going to travel. I was still going to redshirt, but in the event something happens they could throw me out there. Thankfully they didn’t.

The first game that I traveled was the Penn State game. The famous 6-4 game in 2004. Coach Johnson had mentioned to be seen and not heard. So I am on the plane and I am nervous and I was hoping they would put me in the back by the equipment guys or something like that. Instead they put me in row three right next to Matt Roth.

I was so scared. He doesn’t know who I am. He just knows that I am that little freshman that he throws around in practice. On the way there I don’t think we said two words to each other. On the way back it was a win and a wild game and I’m thinking maybe we will talk a bit. All the sudden he is asking for my phone so he could take some pictures and I’m thinking that cool. Then we start talking and he’s inviting me out to celebrate the win when we get back. He gives me his number and all that and then we get back and he says, by the way what’s your name. (laugh) I’ll never forget that one.

Q: That 2004 season, it was probably one of the most emotional for Coach Ferentz with his dad passing away.

MYERS: I think everyone knows that Coach Ferentz is an emotional guy. He was after that game and there was more than I remember. Even now when I am sitting in Arizona watching a game and he gets emotional during an interview, I get those same feelings and start to tear up because I know how great of a guy he is. I still get emotional when I see the videos from the locker room and his voice starts to crack. That’s classic Kirk Ferentz and it shows how much it means to him.

Q: What do you remember about that 2004 game against Wisconsin? Big Ten title on the line and it was pretty electric when Tate found Clinton Solomon for the touchdown pass and the defense just took over that game in the second half.

MYERS: That was a late afternoon game and it was cold. We had a lot of great football players on that team and to be a small part of that game was special. I just keep coming back to the great players we had on that team and the senior leadership on that team was so good. We always knew we had a chance in every game.

Q: In the 2005-07 seasons, there were some up’s and downs with close wins and losses all over the place. Then it really turned in 2008.

MYERS: Yeah it did. I think that speaks to how we found a way with leadership. Maybe in some of those games we might have not have as much experience. We had some growing pains for a while, but we got through it and got better from it.

What I remember was after 2007, we didn’t make a bowl game and we were stuck in the bubble working out. Those 6 am workouts set the tone for the following years. We were in there with Coach Doyle and his staff and we created that mindset that this isn’t how it should be at Iowa and we won’t be in this position again. It started there and we figured it out. It took some time and it grew from there.

Q: Every player from that era always talks about what you just talked about, That winter conditioning after the 2007 season as being a turning point. It set the tone. Was something said or something else?

MYERS: That came from the top of the program. All the workouts and there were garbage cans about every ten yards for people to throw up in. We reset ourselves as a program. The workouts were intense. I don’t think it was a punishment, but I think it made us realize that the guys in the locker room had to pick things up. It was either you are on board or you weren’t and a lot of guys bought in.

Q: Do you get to where you did in your overall career without Chris Doyle?

MYERS: Absolutely not. We didn’t have the best relationship because I was a bit of a knucklehead. I didn’t know what a hang clean was. I didn’t know what it took. My grades weren’t the best. I didn’t know what the Hawkeye way was. Coach Doyle worked me and everyone and it took me a few years to figure it out and he was instrumental in my figuring it out along with Coach Morgan and Coach Ferentz.

He is so important to the program because the kids are with him all the time. He was hard on me and I didn’t like it at times, but if I wanted to see the field and make it to the next level then I had to buy in. He pushed me to the next level and I am forever grateful for it.

Q: Was there a lightbulb moment for you in that process?

MYERS: There were a couple. My grades were struggling and I was struggling with football. I had an end of the year meeting with Coach Doyle that was supposed to be about ten minutes. It was back in the old weight room and I think my meeting lasted an hour.

There were people lined and watching us and I left and after I cooled down I realized that he is trying to help me and push me. Then I came back and I started taking the weight room seriously. I also started taking my nutrition and sleep more seriously.

Then on the field, Tony Jackson was the #1 on the field in my junior year. I was preparing for my role and it didn’t really hit me that I needed to prepare for all the roles. He got hurt at Wisconsin and I was up. It made me realize that I always needed to prepare like I was the starter. I got in and played and it went ok, but from that point on I prepared for everything and from that moment on I felt like I took off.

Q: Let’s talk about the 2008 season and the story of that year was really Shonn Greene? How much fun was it to block for a guy on a run like he had that year?

MYERS: Shonn was a really special back. If a game is on TV or the BTN on a replay, Shonn definitely made me look like a better blocker than I was and I bet a lot of guys on that team would say the same thing. He was special back. There were plays were I was probably getting tossed around and he still made that cut and had a big gain. He made all of us better and that’s a unique trait for a football player.

Q: That 2008 season was so interesting. You got off to a good start and then stumbled a bit and then caught fire. That led to the Penn State win. What are your memories of that game? You had a couple of huge catches on that final drive.

MYERS: I remember that they were ranked #3 in the country and it was cold that game. We came out and played well early on in that game and then fell behind. Penn State had a really good defense too. Sash had the big pick late in the game to set up the final drive. Really the last couple of drives we really came together and I was fortunate to have a couple of balls thrown my way.

Then I think about the kick. I think that was the most nervous I have been about a kick. I was looking through some pictures the other day and there’s one of me with my dad and we were hugging. That was a special moment for me. I think that game showed the type of leadership that we had on that team. Every time that game is on I watch it.

Q: By the end of the year it felt like you guys could play with anyone in the country. You guys were really clicking. Then you go to the Outback Bowl and really destroy South Carolina. Did you sense that was well?

MYERS: We were rolling for sure. We had a good bowl prep too. We hadn’t played them and weren’t familiar with them, but I remember we felt disrespected by them when we got there. You could tell they didn’t think much of us when we had a few interactions.

For us, we were there to win a game. It was a business trip for the seniors. We had seen what it was like to be on top in 04 and then what it wasn’t like in 07, and we talked about wanting to go out on a high note. We played really well. We knew our identity and leaned on Shonn and the run game and it opened up things for us.

Q: Now on the next chapter for you, which was the NFL Draft. Did you get an invite to the combine that year? What was it like preparing for the draft?

MYERS: I didn’t get invited to the combine and at the time that was a huge deal. I figured because of that I wouldn’t get drafted. I had the Iowa Pro Day and did ok there.

I knew I wasn’t going to get drafted in the first few rounds. I think it was Sunday morning and I am at our family farm and it was storming really bad. I’m watching it and the storm was so bad and I started getting some calls in the fourth or fifth round and then the power goes out. So panic sets in and I called my sister, who lived in town, and she had power. So we pack up and go to her house. It was a mad dash and we were soaking wet. Then we just sit and watch and get calls. You never know what the call is. Some were calling about if I’m a free agent and don’t get picked and things like that or they are saying if this happens we might take you here. I’m also getting calls from my agent too. I was reading a Sports Illustrated article and then my phone rings and it’s the Raiders.

You don’t really know what to say. I honestly don’t know what I said. I was excited and talked to Coach Cable and I was excited to go play for him because he was an offensive line guy like Coach Ferentz.

It helped to have Robert Gallery there and he had a great relationship with Coach Cable. He was great with me right away. He would say if I messed up a block that it wasn’t the Iowa way or that Coach Ferentz wouldn’t teach you to do that. I think it made my transition easier that he was an offensive line coach because he and Coach Ferentz spoke the same terminology and the footwork was similar.

Q: Playing in Oakland is a unique professional football experience. They have such a passionate fanbase. What was it like playing there?

MYERS: It was great playing there. I was talking about it yesterday, Oakland was special for me because I came in with my draft class and we were all in the same boat. I made some great relationships with those guys.

Oakland fans get a bad rap sometimes because of the Black Hole and things like that, but they were really intelligent fans. We were really bad for a few years and didn’t win a lot, but the fans were there for every game and cheering us on. It’s a lot like Iowa in that respect, good or bad, they still support you and show up. The fans were great. They weren’t calling out players or anything like that.

Q: Al Davis is one the legendary figures in the history of the NFL. What were your interactions like with him?

MYERS: I have a good story about him. I think it was my second year and I was on the kickoff team and my job was to block a pro bowl special teams guy and I had to make my drop. I had to drop 20 yards and no one was within 10 yards of me and I had to block this guy. He got the best of me and went by me and made the tackle. I’m angry about it and it’s Monday morning after the game and I felt bad for letting the guys down. Everyone in that special teams room takes great pride in what we do and after the meeting I was in the weight room. With Al Davis, you know when he is in the building because he wore cologne and a lot of it. I was like I smell this and I hadn’t experienced it. So I turn around and he is right behind me. He looks me and I really can’t say anything to him. I said, Mr. Davis and he starts in and says I didn’t draft you and take a chance on you to see you block like that. Then he just left and I am shook. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know if I should leave or what. That was a memorable experience.

Q: You talked about Gallery helping you early on at Oakland, but overall there seems to be a real brotherhood among Iowa players, even from different eras, and how you guys always seek each other out in the NFL.

MYERS: To have Robert there my rookie year was a real blessing. He took me around to meet everyone and invited me to his house and really went out of his way to look out for me.

Whenever you play someone from Iowa, you have that special bond. Iowa is a special place and we all kind of went through the same experiences with Coach Ferentz and his program. We all went through that grind, even if we didn’t go to school at Iowa at the same time. We all know how special it is and have that special relationship.

Q: You retire after the run at Tampa. What are you up to now?

MYERS: Heading into that last year at Tampa, I knew I was just kind of ready to move on and transition into something else. We moved to Arizona and I really didn’t workout that much. There was another opportunity, but I realized I was ready to be retired.

My wife and I had our new son and that was a new experience for me. After about a year plus of hanging out at home and playing golf was fun, but that wasn’t for me so I started looking into some different things. I have a cousin who started a window cleaning company in the Ozarks, so I pulled the trigger on that and have a window cleaning company down here in Arizona. I have been doing it for a year and we have booked a lot of clients. There are a lot of Hawkeye fans down here too, so I leaned on that too. It’s been great and I really enjoy getting up and going to work and seeing a finished project. It gives me a lot of happiness to see the finished product.