Former Iowa linebacker Pat Angerer will replace longtime color analyst Ed Podolak on Iowa football radio broadcasts beginning this fall, Iowa’s athletics department and Learfield Communications announced Monday. Angerer will join Gary Dolphin, who became the solo play-by-play voice of Iowa football and men’s basketball in 1997.
Angerer, 37, was a first-team All-America linebacker in 2009 when he led the Hawkeyes to an 11-2 record, an Orange Bowl victory and the program’s highest final AP poll ranking (No. 7) since 1960. He was a two-year starter, compiling 258 tackles, including 11.5 tackles for loss, and six interceptions.
Indianapolis selected Angerer in the second round of the 2010 NFL Draft, and he made the 2010 season’s all-rookie team. Shoulder injuries ended his pro career after four seasons. In that time he racked up 328 tackles, 2.5 sacks, 14 tackles for loss, four forced fumbles and two interceptions.
“Ed (Podolak) and Gary (Dolphin) have been a huge part of my Hawkeye football experience as a player and fan, and I hope that I can do them, the university, the football program, and the fans justice,” Angerer said in a statement. “I plan to take the same passion I had as a player to the booth.”
Podolak, 76, stepped away from the Hawkeye Radio Network this spring after 42 years as the program’s radio analyst. WHO Radio hired Podolak in 1982 alongside play-by-play broadcaster Jim Zabel. Podolak then joined Dolphin in 1997.
In a nine-year NFL career with the Kansas City Chiefs, Podolak generated 8,343 all-purpose yards, including 6,907 from scrimmage, and scored 40 touchdowns. He’s best known for his NFL-record 350 all-purpose yards in a double-overtime playoff loss to Miami on Christmas Day 1971.
Is this the right choice for Iowa?
There were other strong candidates — former kicker Nate Kaeding, former quarterback James Vandenberg, former defensive lineman Mitch King — but Angerer’s combination of personality, game knowledge and growth potential made him the ideal candidate. He’s the everyman of Iowa football.
Funny, self-deprecating and insightful, few people came up with more one-liners than Angerer during his playing career. He also can be serious and introspective, a combination that makes him a solid choice to interpret the action on the field and provide analysis to a radio audience.
Angerer is the life of the party, which he demonstrated by inviting thousands of Iowa fans to a massive Indianapolis bar before the 2015 Big Ten championship game. Collectively, they drank the establishment out of beer.
(Photo: Doug Benc / Getty Images)