Jan. 3, 2011
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Five University of Iowa football players have been invited to participate in prestigious post-season all-star games to be held later this month.
Punter Ryan Donahue and defensive tackle Karl Klug will play in the East-West Shrine Game on Jan. 22 at the Florida Citrus Bowl in Orlando, FL. Kickoff will be 3 p.m. (CST) and the game will be televised on the NFL Network.
Quarterback Ricky Stanzi, defensive end Adrian Clayborn and defensive tackle Christian Ballard will play in the Jan. 29 Under Armour Senior Bowl in Mobile, AL. Kickoff will be 3 p.m. in Mobile’s Ladd-Peebles Stadium and will also be televised on the NFL Network.
Stanzi, a three-year starter for the Hawkeyes, finished his career second all-time among Iowa signal callers with a 26-9 record. He wrapped up his career ranked third in school history in touchdown passes (56), passing yards (7,377) and total offense (7,373).
Clayborn was a first team All-American selection this season by the AFCA and Walter Camp, a third team All-American selection by the Associated Press and a first team All-Big Ten pick by the league media and coaches. He is Iowa’s 21st consensus all-American in football. The defensive end was also a finalist for the Lombardi and Hendricks Awards this season. He finished his career at Iowa with 30 consecutive starts, 192 total tackles, 37.5 tackles for loss and 19 sacks.
Ballard was named honorable mention All-Big Ten this season by the league media and coaches. He started all 13 of the Hawkeyes games in 2010 at defensive tackle, but showed his versatility by playing both tackle and defensive end. He finished the year with 43 total tackles, five tackles for loss and three sacks.
Klug was Iowa’s Defensive MVP this season. He finished his career with 140 tackles and 31 tackles for loss (-126 yards). He started his final 26 games as a Hawkeye. He was named to the second all-Big Ten team by the media and coaches.
Donahue was a finalist for the Ray Guy Punter of the Year Award. He also won the team’s Reggie Roby Special Teams Player of the Year Award for the second straight year. Donahue has five of the school’s 14 longest punts in Hawkeye history. He averaged 44.6 yards per punt his senior year. He ended his career with a school record 51 consecutive starts.
All five are projected to be drafted in this year’s NFL Draft in April.