Sept. 17, 2007
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Editor’s Note: Each Monday during the NFL season hawkeyesports.com will feature the performance of one former University of Iowa student-athlete making his mark at the “next level,” the National Football League. The 2007 Iowa Hawkeyes open this year’s Big Ten Conference season Saturday at Wisconsin, so it’s only fitting that hawkeyesports.com takes a snapshot of the play of Green Bay Packer standout Aaron Kampman.
IOWA CITY — The Green Bay Packers are unbeaten and sitting on top of the National Football League’s NFC Central Division alongside long-time peer Detroit thanks in good measure to the play of their defense, a defense that is anchored by former University of Iowa standout Aaron Kampman.
The 6-foot-4, 270-pound all-Pro defensive end collected three tackles, forced a fumble and recorded a sack in the Packers’ 35-13 rout of the New York Giants Sunday in the Meadowlands. The victory was the Packers’ second of the season, sixth straight in regular season play, and the 149th as a starter for Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre, who moved ahead of NFL Hall of Famer John Elway as the winningest signal-caller in the history of the NFL.
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” Aaron Kampman is the most underrated player in the NFL.”
Sports Illustrated’s Peter King last week on ESPN Radio
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Kampman, a fifth round NFL Draft selection of the Packers in 2002, and the Green Bay defense limited the Giants to less than a 100 yards rushing and forced a less-than-100-percent-healthy Eli Manning to throw 40 times. They were toughest in the red zone where the Giants went empty in three tries, a total that included a 0-for-2 on goal-to-go efforts.
Kampman recorded six tackles in the Packers’ season-opening 16-13 victory over Philadelphia on Sept. 9 at Lambeau Field.
Kampman started all 16 games at left defensive end for the Packers in 2006 and recorded a NFC-leading 15 ½ sacks, the third-most in Packer history. The total was more than double his previous best of 6 ½ sacks set in 2005.
He also recorded a career-high of 113 tackles in 2006 – a total that included 84 solo stops and the most ever recorded by a Green Bay player in a season.
“Aaron Kampman is the most underrated player in the NFL,” Sports Illustrated’s Peter King said of Kampman last week during an interview on ESPN Radio.
Kampman is one of three former Iowa Hawkeyes on the Green Bay roster. Colin Cole – another Hawkeye taken by the Packers in the 2002 NFL Draft – joins Kampman on the defensive line while Adbul Hodge, a 2006 NFL Draft pick of Green Bay is currently on the Packers’ Injured Reserve list.
Kampman, Cole and Hodge were among the 23 former Hawkeyes listed on NFL rosters when the league opened its 2007 the weekend of the Sept. 8-9.
The Packers entertain San Diego next Sunday in Green Bay. That game will feature six former Iowa Hawkeyes – all-Pro placekicker Nate Kaeding, all-Pro offensive lineman Mike Goff and first-year tight end Scott Chandler are currently on the Chargers’ active roster.
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