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Floyd of Rosedale
To the winner of the Iowa-Minnesota football game goes possession of a statue of a pig named “Floyd of Rosedale.”
A bet in 1935 between Minnesota Governor Floyd B. Olson and Iowa Governor Clyde Herring gave birth to Floyd of Rosedale. Tensions between the two state universities had been running high and a wager was made in an effort to relieve the situation.
After Iowa lost the 1935 game, Herring presented Olson with Floyd of Rosedale, a full-blooded champion pig and a brother of BlueBoy from Will Rogers’ movie State Fair. Olson gave the pig to the University of Minnesota and commissioned St. Paul sculptor Charles Brioscho to capture Floyd’s image.
The result is a bronze pig 21 inches long and 15 inches high. Floyd currently resides in Iowa City as a result of Iowa’s 40-22 victory last season in Kinnick Stadiums. Minnesota holds a 38-29-2 advantage in the series with Floyd of Rosedale on the line.
The winning university is entitled to keep the trophy until it loses the annual battle.
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Herky and the Hawkeyes
The University of Iowa borrowed its athletic nickname from the state of Iowa many years ago.
The name Hawkeye was originally applied to a hero in a fictional novel, The Last of the Mohicans, written by James Fenimore Cooper. Author Cooper had the Delaware Indians bestow the name on a white scout who lived with them.
In 1838, 12 years after the book was published, people in the territory of Iowa acquired the nickname, chiefly through the efforts of Judge David Rorer of Burlington and James Edwards of Fort Madison.
Edwards, editor of the Fort Madison Patriot, moved his paper to Burlington in 1843 and renamed it the Burlington Hawk Eye. The two men continued their campaign to popularize the name and territorial officials eventually gave it their formal approval.
The Hawkeye nickname gained a tangible symbol in 1948 when a cartoon character, later to be named Herky the Hawk, was hatched. The creator was Richard Spencer III, instructor of journalism.
The impish hawk was an immediate hit and he acquired a name through a statewide contest staged by the athletic department. John Franklin, a Belle Plaine alumnus, was the man who suggested Herky.
Since his birth over 40 years ago, Herky has symbolized Iowa athletics and epitomized University life. He even donned a military uniform during the Korean War and became the insignia of the 124th Fighter Squadron.
During the mid 1950s Herky came to life at a football game as the Iowa mascot. Since then Herky has been a familiar figure at Iowa athletic events.
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Cy-Hawk Trophy
When The University of Iowa resumed its football series with Iowa State in 1977, the Des Moines Athletic Club donated a trophy to be awarded to the winner of the annual in-state battle.
The Cy-Hawk Trophy features a football player in the classic running back pose, and also includes a likeness of both Herky the Hawkeye and Cy the Cardinal on the front of the trophy.
The Hawkeyes hold a 34-18 advantage in the series that began in 1894, including an 18-9 margin since 1977 when the Cy-Hawk Trophy was first awarded. The Cy-Hawk Trophy currently resides in Iowa City as a result of Iowa’s 40-21 win in Ames last season.