Dalles Jacobus had finished the song, and heard silence.

“I was like, ‘Oh. Is it that bad?’” the Iowa junior defensive lineman said. “And then everyone started cheering and then you could see the tears.”

The reaction, Jacobus said, has been similar since the video of him performing his song, “We Wave,” went viral this summer.

The song, to honor the Kinnick Stadium game-day tradition of fans, players and coaches waving to the children and parents at the university's Stead Family Children’s Hospital across the street from the stadium, was written by Jacobus and his brother.

“The chorus actually came to me on a fishing trip, when I was on a boat,” Jacobus said. “I got home, and sat down with my brother, and I think we wrote it in an hour, tops. It was a quick, quick write.”

Jacobus sang a part of the song during a TV interview at Friday’s media day.

“Our biggest fans are up above, yeah looking over our shoulders...

You see 'em waitin' patiently for the end of the first quarter...

When we wave to the kids that cannot play...

With a big smile on their face every football Saturday...

Yeah, we wave to help those kids let go...

Give the parents a little hope to bring those kids back home...

Yeah, we wave…”

Jacobus bought a guitar after the Hawkeyes got back from the Outback Bowl in January and began learning how to play it.

“Once I learned some chords, when (the song) came to my mind, I knew it could be something that would be impactful to the world, and to other people,” Jacobus said. I knew I had to write it.

“It took me a month to try to sing the whole thing without getting choked up. I have a vision in my head, a movie in my head that’s playing when I’m singing that song. Just like seeing a kid who’s gone through a week of treatments, and he’s ready to see a game. It uplifts him in a way the parents haven’t seen.”

Jacobus said he has heard from parents whose children are in or have been in the hospital.

“It’s been incredibly positive,” he said of the reaction. “I’ve talked to parents who have kids in the hospital, or have had kids in the hospital. Some of them, it uplifts them. Some of them, it makes them sad.”

“Music is amazing. It can help you get through a lot of things. It can pump you up for a game, get you through hard times. It’s something else that can mean a lot to a lot of people.”

Jacobus sang his song at the “Beyer Bash,” — his Cedar Rapids Kennedy teammate, tight end Shaun Beyer, is also his roommate.

“It was a very moving moment,” he said.

Jacobus has been among the Hawkeyes who have made visits to the hospital.

“You see those 10, 20 minutes you’re in there interacting with them, you can see that they’re facing these situations, and they’re upbeat about it,” he said. “You just see how they can be positive through the darkest of times. With the ‘Wave,’ you can reach all of them. You’ve got 70,000 people all being a part of it. It’s very, very special.”

Jacobus’ mother, Shelley, is a NICU nurse at the hospital.

“My mom has worked in the hospital for as long as I can remember,” Jacobus said. “I’ve had a chance to talk to parents that my mom has been a nurse for, to see how she’s touched their lives. And now I’ve had the chance, the opportunity, to do it as well.

“It’s pretty awesome.”

FERENTZ ON GAMBLING: Sports gambling will be in legal operation when the Hawkeyes open the season, but that doesn’t mean Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz has changed his mind about it.

“It's always been an industry,” Ferentz said. “It's always been something we've got to be cognizant of, I think, and educate our players on. So I really don't think the approach changes. I don't see how it changes at all.”

Legal wagering can begin in Iowa at noon on Aug. 15 at casinos around the state.

“Gambling has always been involved, and so there's just lines of demarcation are pretty clear, and any of us involved in sports, to even think about being involved in that is just a bad deal,” Ferentz said. “I don't think it changes our approach at all. We'll continue to educate our players about it. They need to obviously stay away from that in all regards.”

Ferentz said he remembers an FBI agent speaking to the Hawkeyes in the 1980s.

“I'll never forget, I can't tell you what the number was but it was a big number, it was the amount of money that they guesstimated was being done in Iowa City on gambling, sports gambling, and it blew my mind at that point, and that's 25 years ago or 30 years ago, whatever it is,” Ferentz said.

THE PUNTING BATTLE: The competition for punter will be between Colten Rastetter and Michael Sleep-Dalton.

The original depth chart had Rastetter or Ryan Gersonde as No. 1s, but Gersonde injured his knee and will be out for the season, Ferentz said.

The depth chart for kicker still lists Caleb Shudak and Keith Duncan as co-No. 1s.

“They're both doing a good job,” Ferentz said.