Get Well Soon, Dan Persa…Signed, a Bitter Iowa Fan

I remember November 13th, 2010 well. It stings just slightly more than the rest of ‘em.

Before I began writing about college football at the serious level that I do now (don’t laugh), I was an Iowa fan. Although it wasn’t long ago, I had a much different approach back then. I took things probably more seriously than I should have, a trend many of you can relate to.

As a fan of a particular team, you pick up trends over time. For Iowa, these recent trends that actually stretch beyond a few years include the following: the running back curse is very real, and Northwestern—and more specifically former QB Dan Persa—is 100-percent Hawkeye kryptonite.

This piece of Iowa kryptonite used up his eligibility following the 2011 season, although, unfortunately, it would appear that his football career might be over as well.

According to Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune, Persa has suffered another Achilles setback and will have another surgery to repair the injury. He reinjured himself in a workout with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the early part of May. While he could rehab from this injury like he did already, it sounds like Persa has resigned himself to the fact that me might never play again.

"Six years at a place is a long time," he told the Tribune. "If I never play again, I'm happy with what I've done."

As he should be, and outside of Northwestern fans who watched Persa dazzle, battle injuries and seemingly pull off the impossible throughout his college career, Iowa fans got more than their fair share of what "PersaStrong" was all about 

Persa played limited minutes in 2009, but that didn’t stop him from sinking Iowa and its national championship hopes. Buckle up, there’s a trend here. Northwestern starter Mike Kafka was dealing with a hamstring injury, and he and Persa split snaps throughout the game. He racked up a passing touchdown, nearly 70 yards rushing (just a shade under half of his season total), and Northwestern gave Iowa its first loss of 2009.

And then there’s that dreaded November 13th, 2010, which proved to be dreaded for the winning team as well.

On this day Persa must have lathered himself in oil beforehand, because he made a very good Iowa defensive line look absolutely foolish. They could not bring him down, and he was always a hand or so out of reach throughout. Still, however, Iowa was in a position to get its Northwestern revenge late. Until this happened.

I remember resting my hands over my head, and then I let out a loud obscenity or thirty when the touchdown was signaled. Coming off the season before—despite the fact that this Iowa team was nowhere near where they were in 2009—this was a crushing loss. But then I saw Persa down on the turf, and my tune immediately changed.

The moment you saw the painful, slow-mo replay, you knew his Achilles was torn. I had torn mine only a few years before, and I could feel my lower right leg tighten up with each shot of his awkward twinge. That was indeed the case, and Persa missed the rest of the season after undergoing surgery. 

On the road to recovery, Northwestern made a Heisman push for its returning QB before last season began. They sent out “PersaStrong” dumbbells to members of the media and placed billboards in Chicago and Bristol, Connecticut (home of that four-letter company you might have heard of).

Off the field, however, Persa suffered setbacks in his rehab and was never fully healthy during the 2011 season. He could barely move around in the majority of the games he played in, but he played and he was still an incredibly productive passer with his mobility, his most potent weapon, stuck in the holster.

Finally, with the man working on one good leg, Iowa took down Persa and Northwestern in October of last year, 41-31. Persa still managed to throw for nearly 250 yards and a touchdown in this game, but it wasn’t a fair fight. It just wasn’t the same menace from the previous games.

Despite the fact that he limped across the finish line, Persa finished his Northwestern career with a career completion percentage of 72.7, which is a Division I record. He also has the third highest pass efficiency rating (155.04) in Big Ten history.

Dan Persa could have played in the NFL. He wouldn’t have been a star, even if he had stayed healthy throughout his career, but he could have turned it into a career. That likely won’t be the case now, although I’d be shocked to see him stray too far away from the football world.

The biggest compliment I can give is to stress just how frustrating it was to watch him dominate my team of choice in so many ways. He was a surgeon, a defensive coordinator’s nightmare and a unique talent that certainly had Iowa’s number. When he wasn't doing it to your team, he was awfully fun to watch. And even when he was, you could only smile through the obscenities.

Although the “PersaStrong” Heisman campaign never panned out because his Achilles never fully headed, the slogan certainly still feels more than appropriate. 

Get well soon.