College football traditions: 'Hawkeye Wave' bonds everyone in stadium with kids in adjacent hospital

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When Iowa is playing at home and the first quarter comes to an end, the football game suddenly is out of sight and out of mind for a few minutes for everyone inside Kinnick Stadium and the kids watching from the nearby Stead Family Children’s Hospital in Iowa City.

The 70,000 fans along with players, coaches and staff for the Hawkeyes and the visiting team turn toward the hospital and wave to the pediatric patients and parents gathered on the top floor that provides a bird's-eye view of the field. The children wave back and hold up handmade signs.

The tradition, known as the Hawkeye Wave, started with the 2017 opener against Wyoming after it was suggested on an internet message board that fans take a moment each game to acknowledge the kids in the hospital who are watching along with them and often are battling life-threatening diseases.

The Wave has been hailed as one of the most popular traditions in college football by a number of outlets and is deeply moving for the participants.

“It puts things into perspective, even though it’s during the game,” said fifth-year linebacker Jaden Harrell. “That’s an awesome thing to take a break for not only the kids, but those parents who are going through a lot, too. Knowing what’s going on in there, what’s being done by the doctors and the staff and the nurses, it shows appreciation to all those people. They’re doing a great job.”

The Hawkeyes have long had a strong bond with the hospital. Coach Kirk Ferentz and his wife, Mary, have donated more than $1 million to the hospital since 2017 and players regularly visit patients.

“You get to know some of the kids over there, and it just makes it even cooler when you get to that point in the game when you can wave to them,” fifth-year wide receiver Kaden Wetjen said.

In 2009, the football program began the “Kid Captain” program to honor patients and celebrate their stories. A Kid Captain is picked for every home game, and each child selected receives a commemorative jersey, special recognition from the hospital and the football team and other behind-the-scenes activities.

The relationships with the patients, combined with the participation of the fans and visiting team, stirs emotion.

For the first five years, Pat Clark's country music song “Wave on Wave” played on stadium loudspeakers during the Wave. Since 2022, the Kid Captain picks the song.

“It’s pretty special, man," Wetjen said. “I mean, to look up, see all the kids there waving back at you, it’s just kind of a cool moment. Each and every game, it always kind of hits you.”

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AP freelance writer John Bohnenkamp contributed from Iowa City, Iowa.

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