The list of linebackers on our Mt. Rushmore is filled with players who were tackling machines during their Iowa career. With names like Larry Station and Chad Greenway leading the list, the Hawkeyes have had many great players at the position in their history. We take a look at the top four on our list and several other outstanding players at the position spanning several decades.

As you can imagine, it was difficult to narrow the field down to a list of nominees and finally pick the four faces of the Hawkeye Football program at each position. Our voting panel consisted of Tom Kakert and Blair Sanderson from HawkeyeReport.com, Lyle Hammes, who has written two books on the history of Hawkeye Football, and Mike Hlas, Marc Morehouse and Scott Dochterman from the Cedar Rapids Gazette. Our thanks to Lyle Hammes for helping complete some of the bios for this project.

The Mt. Rushmore at Linebacker for the Hawkeyes includes:

Chad Greenway grew up in South Dakota playing nine man football and because of that, many schools overlooked the talent and ability of the future college and professional standout. Greenway played quarterback in high school, but was strictly a linebacker when he arrived at the University of Iowa. After redshirting in his freshman season, Greenway suffered a knee injury and missed a portion of his redshirt freshman year, but still found ways to contribute on special teams. In 2003, Greenway earned a spot in the starting lineup for the Hawkeyes and the rest is, as they say, history. He went on to earn first team All Big Ten honors and first team All American status in his final two years at Iowa. Greenway finished his Iowa career with 416 career tackles, including 31 for loss and 7 sacks. He also had four career interceptions and returned one of those for a touchdown. Greenway was a first round pick of the Minnesota Vikings and is still with the team.

You could make a pretty strong case for the fact that there's never been a better linebacker in Iowa Football history than Larry Station. After winning a huge recruiting battle for Station, he found his way on to the field as a true freshman. While only starting five games that year, he still led Iowa in tackles and was named 2nd team All Big Ten. From 1983-85, there might not have been a better linebacker in college football than Station. He led Iowa in tackles all three years and Iowa had the best defense in the conference in all three seasons. He was named first team All Big Ten in the final three years with the Hawkeyes and was a consensus All American in the final two years at Iowa. Station started 42 straight games for the Hawkeyes and had a school record 492 career tackles, including 308 solo stops. He also had 35 tackles for loss and 3 career interceptions. In 2009, Station was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame.

Whether on offense or defense, Mike Reilly is definitely in the conversation for a spot on Iowa's Mt. Rushmore. He was recruited by Coach Evashevski, who then stepped down after Reilly's freshman season. Jerry Burns became head coach, and Reilly began a career at offense right guard, right linebacker, and punter. Talented teammate Wally Hilgenberg was left guard and left linebacker. Says Reilly, "Wally and I did pretty well as offensive guards, but I think we both enjoyed defense a little bit more. We were the same year in school and were very good friends." They comprised one of the best Big Ten linebacker duos in the 1960s. In 1963, Reilly was named Team MVP, First Team All-Big Ten, and First Team All-American.

Reilly went on to play six years professionally for the Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings. About his experience in Chicago, Reilly says, "Some people say they don't remember me playing for the Bears. Here's my normal response: 'Did you ever hear of Dick Butkus? That's why you never heard of me.'" In Minnesota, he rejoined former Iowa teammates Hilgenberg and Paul Krause to finish his professional football career. He then returned to his hometown of Dubuque, Iowa and later broadcast Iowa games with Ron Gonder for many years.

After battling a number of injuries early in his Iowa career, Pat Angerer nearly gave up on football. But, the Bettendorf, IA native kept plugging away and eventually in 2008, he got healthy and from that point on he became the leader of the Iowa defense at middle linebacker. Angerer won a battle for the middle linebacker spot early in the 2008 season and ended up leading Iowa with 107 tackles and he also had five interceptions. That season he earned 2nd team All Big Ten honors. In 2009, he led Iowa's defense to an Orange Bowl win with 145 tackles and earned 1st team All Big Ten and 1st team All American honors in the process. Angerer was a 2nd round draft pick of the Indianapolis Colts and is currently a free agent looking to land with another NFL team this season.

Linebackers tend to come in two's and Iowa had a great one in Chad Greenway and Abdul Hodge. The Ft. Lauderdale, FL native arrived in 2001 with Greenway and their Iowa career paths mirrored each other in many ways. Hodge saw time at middle linebacker and on special teams as a redshirt freshman and then took over the full-time starting role in his sophomore year. He was named first team All Big Ten in his sophomore and junior years and 2nd team as a senior. He set the record for most tackles in the Capital One Bowl in 2005 with 16 and then had a record setting 19 stops in the 2006 Outback Bowl. For his career, Hodge had 453 tackles, including 289 solo stops. He had 27 tackles for loss, 7 sacks, and 6 fumble recoveries. Hodge was a 3rd round pick of the Green Bay Packers and spent five seasons in the NFL.

Brad Quast, a football and scholastic high school All-American, was heavily recruited and chose the Hawkeyes over Michigan. After he committed to Iowa, Wolverine coach Bo Schembechler personally called him and stated, "Quast, you made a big mistake." Known as a great hitter, Quast was one of the few linebackers in Iowa history to start all four years. He was named the top freshman linebacker in the nation by The Sporting News in 1986, and he was an All-Big Ten selection in 1988 and 1989. His 435 career tackles ranks fourth in school history, and his 11 career interceptions ranks eighth. "The four years went too quick…it went too fast," Quast says. "I couldn't imagine going to another university and having the same amount of fun and experiences I did at Iowa. I got a top-notch education, played great football, and had a great time."

Despite winning only nine games over his four years, linebacker Andre Jackson left an indelible mark on the Iowa defensive record book. As a freshman in 1972, he recorded 22 tackles in a 6-6 tie with heavily-favored Michigan State. This was the first of six times in his career where he tallied 20 or more tackles in a single game. Jackson holds the record for most tackles in a season (171 in 1972) and currently stands behind only Larry Station in career tackles (465). His senior year, Jackson was named team captain and team MVP

Tom Rusk was a First Team All-State fullback at Dubuque Hempstead High School, and he also won the state championship in wrestling at 185 pounds. Although he played fullback as a freshman at Iowa, Coach Bob Commings moved him to the middle linebacker position prior to his sophomore season. Rusk promptly led the Hawkeyes in tackles for the next three seasons and became a fearsome defender. He was an All-Big Ten selection as a junior and was named team captain the following year. Rusk left Iowa ranked second in career tackles with 361. He then spent one season wrestling at heavyweight for Dan Gable before playing three seasons in the Canadian Football League.

Back in 1999 when Iowa was struggling and looking for an identity as they tried to build a program, Fred Barr arrived on campus from Ft. Lauderdale, FL and gave the Hawkeyes a little bit of a swagger. Barr stepped in almost immediately and made an impact, starting the final six games of the year at linebacker. He steadily improved over his career and his rise mirrored that of the Iowa program, culminating in 2002 with Iowa's breakthrough season where they played in the Orange Bowl. Barr earned first team All Big Ten honors as a senior, helping lead Iowa's defense. For his career, he had 376 tackles, 24 stops for loss, and four interceptions.

Leven Weiss was a 6'2", 215-pound linebacker from Detroit, Michigan. He started his career for Coach Bob Commings and recorded 128 tackles in his first three years. As a senior under first-year Iowa coach Hayden Fry, Weiss led the Hawkeyes with 112 tackles and also recovered three fumbles. In his final Hawkeye game in 1979, Weiss intercepted a pass to set up a touchdown in a 33-23 victory over Michigan State. He was an All-Big Ten selection and an Honorable Mention All-American as a senior. He gathered 240 career tackles at Iowa.

When he arrived in Iowa City in 1986, Melvin Foster was one of the most decorated defensive players in high school football. Foster was the top player in the state of Texas and expectations for his Iowa career were very high. Foster redshirted is freshman year and worked his way on to the field in a prominent role starting in his sophomore year, where he battled injuries. He led Iowa in tackles in his final two years with the Hawkeyes and finished with 337 career tackles. Foster was a first team All Big Ten selection in his senior year.

Matt Hughes was another player out of the state of Texas that found a home at the University of Iowa during the tenure of Hayden Fry. Hughes redshirted in his first year at Iowa before seeing extensive tim on special teams as a redshirt freshman. Then as a sophomore he moved into the starting lineup for Coach Fry and piled up 354 career tackles, including 23 for loss, and 8 sacks. He also earned honorable mention All Big Ten honors and was academic All Big Ten and an academic All American while at the University of Iowa.