When former Hawkeye star quarterback Chuck Long came into our office to have a photo taken as a new book on his career developed, he was cordial and professional. 

He gladly took time to meet the occupants of our cozy newsroom, without so much as pondering that die-hard Cyclones might be shaking his hand.

Long is the former Heisman Trophy candidate, not the telecommunications guy from Sioux City. 

The record-breaking quarterback’s life story is the subject of one of the first books published by Business Publications Corp.’s relatively new division, WriteBrain. “Destined for Greatness” was written by longtime agriculture-group communicator Aaron Putze. 

Consider this less a shameless plug than a heads-up that a fascinating tale that came out of the heyday of Hayden Fry’s Iowa coaching days is now  available. More than three decades after the fact, some Hawkeye fans might not know of Chuck Long’s story. He was a central character in Fry’s mission to turn the Iowa program around after nearly nearly two decades of of non-winning seasons. Let’s just say he succeeded.

The second Long walked into the room, I thought of The Bootleg.
 
Some of you are nodding. Those of you who aren’t need to go to this clip — http://bit.ly/2AcrA3w — and watch one of the greatest Hawkeye plays. A few yards from the Michigan State end zone in a big game, the Hawks sent the running back leaping for the goal line, without the ball. Long rolled out right and nearly walked into the end zone, ball held high over his head. 

Long’s Iowa career was one of the most storied, but it also holds some lessons. He is one of the most successful of the many athletes who came into Iowa with talent, and promise, but also with a lot to learn. Fry knew Long had potential. While Fry toiled to teach Long and so many other players who to work past any weaknesses through sheer grit and by playing smart, the Hawkeyes started piling up winning seasons and bowl games. And Chuck Long, who didn’t throw much in high school, completed passes for a combined 10,000 yards-plus at Iowa. He was the first Big 10 quarterback to do that. 

Long eventually was a first-team All-American and finished second in the balloting for the Heisman Trophy. He was the 12th pick in the 1986 NFL draft. 

Coach Fry said Long was “destined for greatness” before he started his Iowa career. The book borrows that phrase for its title.

Putze describes Long’s journey from Wheaton, Ill., on a team that liked to run and through his career as a businessman, now serving as executive director of the Iowa Sports Foundation. In the book, he touches on the pain of the farm crisis and the struggle to return the Hawkeyes to their winning ways. “Everyone loved Chuck Long,” Fry recalled in an interview for the book. “Chuck did all the right things.”

The book is available via Amazon.com, at Kindle Direct Publishing and in various stores.