Remembering When an Iowa QB Went First Overall in the NFL Draft

There's no way to poll this very scientifically, but if you were to ask the common/passionate college football fan what they think of when they hear "Iowa Hawkeyes," you'd probably get responses pretty in line with Iowa fans themselves: iron curtain defense, a factory for trunky and reliable offensive linemen, but a team routinely plagued by anemic quarterback play.

Recent history has shown us what the NFL thinks of Iowa Hawkeye quarterbacks. Some are good on which to take a flyer. Despite currently being a free agent, C.J. Beathard proved to be a steady backup for teams like the San Francisco 49ers and, most recently, the Jacksonville Jaguars. Nate Stanley never saw the field in the pros, but he was good enough to exist on the Minnesota Vikings' practice squad for a couple years.

Hell, you have to go back to Brad Banks to find an Iowa quarterback who saw some level of playing time with multiple teams, and he bounced from the NFL to Canada, and eventually, the Arena Football League.

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However, what if I told you that, at one point, an Iowa Hawkeye quarterback was selected first overall in the NFL Draft? It did happen. It might not ever happen again, at least not for the foreseeable future, but one Hawkeye signal caller did find himself as the #1 overall pick many, many moons ago.

That quarterback was Randy Duncan, selected first overall by the Green Bay Packers in the 1959 NFL Draft. It turned out to be a legendarily bad pick for the Packers, but likely because (a) it happened so long ago (b) it was before the NFL/AFL merger and (c) the league as a whole wasn't as reputable as it is now is why many have forgotten all about it.

Who is Randy Duncan?:

Randy Duncan is one of the greatest quarterbacks in Iowa football history. He was the consensus All-American at his position, and led Iowa to a 38-12 victory against California in the 1959 Rose Bowl. He led the Hawkeyes to a 7-1-1 record in 1957, and an 8-1-1 record in 1958. On December 2nd, 1958, the 1-10-1 Packers, who held the first overall selection, took Duncan with the intent of him being their quarterback of the future.

However, per the Packers' website, Joe Taylor, sports director of WRIT in Milwaukee, reported that Duncan's father and Iowa coach Forest Evashevski "do not want the boy to play for the pros." Duncan himself even admitted he was contemplating law school as opposed to playing pro football. Such a move would be unheard of in the modern day, but remember, no player, not even quarterbacks, was sniffing big money. The average quarterback salary in 1959 was $20,000. That's the equivalent of about $216,000 in 2024.

Duncan's Move to Canada:

In February 1959, Duncan declined the Packers' offer and signed with the British Columbia (BC) Lions of the Canadian Football League for more money. Duncan played sparingly for the Lions over the course of two years before joining the Dallas Texans of the American Football League for one year.

He completed 25 of 67 passes for 361 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions, before finally pursuing his dreams of being a lawyer.

Duncan's Later Life:

After finishing law school at Drake University, Duncan remained an Iowa boy until his death. He operated his own practice in Des Moines, but still had football in his genes, which might explain why two of his three sons, Jed and Matt, played football at Yale and Iowa, respectively.

Duncan passed away in September 2016 from brain cancer at the age of 79-years-old. The Des Moines Register wrote a wonderful human interest piece on him back in 2013, complete with videos, some of which embedded in this article.

If a quarterback from Iowa can get drafted #1 overall, even if it was back in the stone ages, anything is truly possible. I'm a sports card collector, so excuse me while I probably spend a little too much money on a Randy Duncan card just to say I have one in my diverse and weird collection.

And, above all else, Iowa State and Wisconsin have never had a quarterback taken #1 overall. That's what really matters, at the end of the day.