IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Home football games for the University of Iowa won’t have the same buzz this season because the usual 69,000 fans won’t be there. One beloved tradition will go on uninterrupted.
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FILE – In this Saturday, Aug. 31, 2019 file photo, Iowa fans wave to children in the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital at the end of the first quarter of an NCAA college football game between Iowa and Miami of Ohio in Iowa City, Iowa. During a season when the atmosphere will be subdued at Iowa home football games because the usual 69,000 fans won’t be there, one tradition will go on uninterrupted. At the end of the first quarter, players and coaches from both teams will turn to the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital and wave, just as they’ve done every home game since 2017.( (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)
At the end of the first quarter at the home opener Saturday against Northwestern, players and coaches from both teams will turn to the nearby Stead Family Children’s Hospital and wave at the young patients. The tradition has been in place for every Iowa home game since 2017. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, patients will stay in their rooms to wave back.