How soon-to-be first-round NFL Draft pick Tyler Linderbaum became an Iowa
football icon
Scott Dochterman <https://theathletic.com/author/scott-dochterman/>
Apr 11, 2022
27
[image: Save Article]
SOLON, Iowa — If NFL <https://theathletic.com/nfl/> executives wanted to
watch Iowa <https://theathletic.com/team/iowa-hawkeyes-college-football/>
center
Tyler Linderbaum squirm during formal meetings at the scouting combine,
they wouldn’t critique his worst plays. They’d praise him for his best
snaps.
“You can never say anything good about the guy. Ever,” said Iowa
quarterback Spencer Petras, one Linderbaum’s roommates and closest friends.
“He’ll just tell you to be quiet or like, ‘Eff off.’”
Rarely do anything but superlatives enter conversations about Linderbaum,
the undisputed top center candidate in this year’s NFL Draft. He was a
unanimous first-team All-American, the Rimington Trophy winner and an
Outland Trophy finalist. Sure, there are a few questions about his size
(6-foot-2, 296 pounds) and it wouldn’t be draft season if arm length
(Linderbaum’s measured 31 7/8 inches) didn’t enter a discussion. But his
on-field play became the gold standard for Pro Football Focus, which ranked
Linderbaum as the nation’s top center two consecutive years.
Linderbaum’s personal qualities are as apparent as his on-field prowess.
When collegiate athletes were granted rights to monetize their name, image
and likeness, Linderbaum sold personalized sweatshirts and donated every
cent to the UI Children’s Hospital. He graduated with a degree in
enterprise leadership in only seven full semesters at Iowa. He played his
final quarter as a Hawkeye with a mid-foot sprain that kept him from
on-field workouts at both the NFL combine and Iowa’s pro day.
Of all the traits that draw people to the 22-year-old Linderbaum, it’s his
loyalty that wins them over. As a high school senior, Linderbaum wanted one
final experience with his friends at Solon (Iowa) High School and played
school-sponsored baseball with a season that stretched into mid-July. Those
afternoon practices and night games coincided every day with his 6 a.m.
workouts in the Iowa football weight room and 11 a.m. summer classes.
Despite his lack of consistent sleep, Linderbaum missed only one baseball
practice, no football workouts, and his baseball team qualified for the
state tournament.
“It gave him that opportunity where he knew, ‘OK, this is what I’m
accepting,” said Todd Linderbaum, Tyler’s father. “‘It’s allowing me to
have one last fling with my high school buddies in baseball, but also to
transition into something that it’s going to lead me into the future.’ I
think he kind of had the best of both worlds.”
Linderbaum didn’t complain about his 18-hour days. He liked the daily
structure and he had help from his family, including a grandmother who
brought him food. His mother, Lisa Linderbaum, called it “a team effort.”
It was a challenge but one he fully accepted.
*‘He didn’t like to lose’*
Growing up in Solon, where his family home is exactly 15 miles north of
Kinnick Stadium, Linderbaum became competitive with his older brother,
Logan, from the moment he could walk. Logan was 3 ½ years older, and they
had their frequent skirmishes. The age difference was amplified in early
competitions, but Linderbaum wouldn’t quit battling, whether it be in
sports, Ping-Pong or a family board game.
“He didn’t like to lose,” Lisa Linderbaum said. “That’s what I always tell
Todd. We should have made him lose as a little boy more often than he did.
Just because if he didn’t win, he was pissy.”
Linderbaum had to prove himself and wasn’t given anything by his brother.
He had to earn his at-bats or snaps in neighborhood games. When Linderbaum
was in third grade and playing flag football, his father coached Logan’s
sixth-grade tackle football team. Logan’s team was short on players one
day, so Linderbaum was told to stand in as a cornerback but not compete in
any drills.
“Before I knew it, he kept creeping up and creeping up and he’s almost at
middle linebacker right over our tackles and guards,” Todd Linderbaum said.
“Oh, buddy, with no pads on, of course. He wanted to get in there and play.
He wasn’t about to sit out there and just be a statue and just be an extra
number for dad and other coaches.”
As he grew, Linderbaum played every sport, but basketball was his favorite.
Logan was a state-qualifying wrestler and eventually earned a scholarship
to compete for Minnesota State-Mankato. Although Linderbaum’s size,
strength and frame screamed wrestler like his older brother, he wouldn’t
give up basketball until his sophomore year. When Linderbaum finally traded
in shorts for a singlet, he had to learn the sport’s technical aspects,
which proved far more difficult than using natural athletic ability.
Linderbaum’s transition to wrestling added to one of the great high school
competitions in eastern Iowa. Solon’s archrival is Mount Vernon, which is
located eight miles to the north. At tournaments and duals throughout the
region, Linderbaum regularly saw and battled Mount Vernon’s Tristan Wirfs
<https://theathletic.com/player/nfl/buccaneers/tristan-wirfs/>. Although
they were friendly, their temperaments were completely different. Wirfs was
an easygoing giant with freakish size and strength. Linderbaum was smaller
but made up for it with intensity and tenacity.
“It got harder every time,” Wirfs said. “I knew it was always going to be
close. But I was always nervous because he’s like a bulldog. He’d come out
all fighting and stuff. I’m like, ‘All right. I’ve got to slow things down.
This is too fast.’”
Wirfs beat Linderbaum every time by fall through three regular seasons.
Then, the schools were matched up in a regional dual with the winner
qualifying for the team state tournament. Solon already had locked up the
dual meet by the time Wirfs and Linderbaum met in the heavyweight match.
Wirfs tried to throw Linderbaum as he did in every previous matchup. This
time, Linderbaum caught Wirfs, powered him to his back and pinned him with
six seconds left.
“The night of those matches, there was some juice to it, let’s not kid
yourself,” Todd Linderbaum said. “Two combatants going at it, and two
pretty competitive kids, obviously. Tristan got him every time but one.
That was quite the night out there.
“I would say a friendly competitive rivalry of two young kids just giving
it their all is what those were, but good intensity to say the least.”
Wirfs won the Class 2A individual heavyweight title a week later while
Linderbaum helped Solon claim the Class 2A state team title. They later
became teammates and friends at Iowa and started on the same offensive line
during the 2019 season.
“He got me on the last one at the end of the dual,” Wirfs said. “That’s the
one everybody remembers.”
Without fail, Linderbaum mentions that Wirfs won the other matchups.
“We’ve always competed against each other, whether it be football,
baseball, track, obviously wrestling,” Linderbaum said. “I’ve wrestled him
quite a bit. He’s beaten me quite a few times. I’m happy I got one match on
him, but he’s a great competitor. He’s someone who’s made me better.”
*‘The best I’ve seen’*
Linderbaum signed at Iowa as a defensive tackle and played in two games
while redshirting in 2018. During postseason bowl preparation, Iowa coach
Kirk Ferentz asked Linderbaum if he would consider moving to center. In a
move that still fires up the program’s defensive coaches, Linderbaum agreed.
By the next spring, Linderbaum was firmly entrenched as the first freshman
to start at center in 13 years. He and Petras carried footballs around
campus and Linderbaum would snap to his quarterback.
“That’s a good example of trusting your coaches and being coachable,” Lisa
Linderbaum said. “You allow yourself to do that.”
Despite his lack of experience, Linderbaum became the tone-setter on an
offensive line that included Wirfs and four-year starting left tackle
Alaric Jackson, both of whom were first-team All-Big Ten honorees.
Linderbaum battled daily against defensive tackle Daviyon Nixon
<https://theathletic.com/player/nfl/panthers/daviyon-nixon/>, who was a
first-team All-American in 2020, and the young center forced his defensive
teammates to match his tempo in practice or suffer the consequences.
“Some days felt longer than others,” Iowa defensive tackle Noah Shannon
said. “Every day I came to practice it felt like game day for me when I
went against Lindy. He is just a great competitor, and he’s not dirty or
anything like that; he’s just trying. It’s all effort with him, and I knew
I was going to have to give 100 percent because he’s not coming with
anything less.”
“The biggest thing is he’s always in good position with his hands and his
leverage,” Iowa defensive tackle Logan Lee said. “He’s just a freak of
nature. He’s just able to cover so much ground and he’s able to make
something out of nothing, especially like at the start of the rep if you
happen to be winning, he’ll typically find a way to finish the rep on top.”
According to Pro Football Focus, Linderbaum allowed only two sacks in 1,201
pass-blocking snaps over three seasons (0.17%). Linderbaum was ranked as
the nation’s fifth-best center as a redshirt freshman in 2019 and No. 1 in
2020 and 2021. Last year, he graded as the best center since PFF began
evaluating college players nearly 10 seasons ago.
Iowa’s staff asked him to do more than most centers in its outside zone
with reach blocks on three-technique defensive tackles. Linderbaum’s
quickness and ability to reach second-level defenders off a combination
block are rare. His hands, leverage, speed and tenacity helped him win
snaps against larger and stronger defensive linemen.
<https://cdn.theathletic.com/app/uploads/2021/11/21182234/GettyImages-1235703321.jpg>
(Tony Quinn / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Kirk Ferentz regularly downplays player comparisons, and with good reason.
He was the offensive line coach when the Baltimore Ravens
<https://theathletic.com/team/ravens/> drafted Jonathan Ogden in 1996. At
Iowa, Ferentz coached Robert Gallery (2003) and Brandon Scherff
<https://theathletic.com/player/nfl/jaguars/brandon-scherff/> (2014) to
Outland Trophy seasons and honed Eric Steinbach (2002) and Wirfs (2019)
into first-team All-Americans. Another former Iowa pupil, Marshal Yanda
(2005-06), was a unanimous member of the NFL Team of the Decade for the
2010s. So when the old line coach evokes a historic name, even in passing,
he does so for a reason.
“The thing that jumps out most to me about him is his consistency,” Ferentz
said. “I go back to growing up as a young person. Mike Webster was a guy,
boy, was he a good center. I remember going up to Latrobe (Pa.) and
watching them practice. He made everything look easy. You know it’s not
easy, blocking a guy like Joe Greene. After practice, Joe Greene and he
went one-on-one. What do you think a ticket like that would cost if it was
for public consumption? Two of the all-time great NFL players.
“Just the things he did, the work, the consistency. Just looked like it was
almost easy. It’s not. There’s nothing like that, especially in the NFL or
what we’re doing. That’s how I would describe Tyler. So efficient, so
focused and usually pretty sound fundamentally. He wins a lot of battles
because of that.
“The other part I would just say about him, you meet him, I don’t know if
low key is the right word, but he’s not an outward rambunctious guy. He’s
ultra-competitive.”
Teammates, college rivals and evaluators alike appreciate what Linderbaum
brings to every competition.
“He’s definitely just like you guys see,” said Wisconsin first-team
All-American linebacker Leo Chenal. “He’s really fast, he’s super athletic,
he’s definitely earned the top whatever lineman, definitely at his
position. Because he’s fast, he’ll get to the second level really quick, so
you got to be careful.”
“We’ve had very good luck with Iowa players over the years,” Ravens general
manager Eric DeCosta said. “Marshal Yanda, to me, Hall of Famer someday.
When we look at a guy like Tyler Linderbaum, we see a lot of the same
qualities — tough, gritty, very, very athletic, very intelligent, smart,
the type of guy who could really be the centerpiece of your offensive line.
Teams picking in the top 15, I think have a chance to get themselves a
really good offensive lineman.”
Fellow Iowa offensive lineman Kyler Schott wrestled Linderbaum in high
school and played beside him the last few years.
“I’ve played with some pretty good O-linemen: Tristan Wirfs, Alaric
Jackson, Sean Welsh, Ike Boettger
<https://theathletic.com/player/nfl/bills/ike-boettger/>,” Schott said,
“and he’s the best I’ve seen out of all of them.”
Iowa’s most recent three multi-year starters at center — James Ferentz
<https://theathletic.com/player/nfl/patriots/james-ferentz/> (Patriots
<https://theathletic.com/team/patriots/>), Austin Blythe
<https://theathletic.com/player/nfl/seahawks/austin-blythe/> (Seahawks
<https://theathletic.com/team/seahawks/>), James Daniels
<https://theathletic.com/player/nfl/steelers/james-daniels/> (Steelers
<https://theathletic.com/team/steelers/>) — all are on NFL rosters. Every
starting Iowa center but one in the last 20 years, including offensive
coordinator Brian Ferentz, has signed an NFL contract. Brian Ferentz, like
Linderbaum, was a team captain his final season but he laughed at any
comparison between himself and his young protégé.
“I’m so flattered right now. I’m serious,” Brian Ferentz said. “That’s
insanity. That’d be the last time I’ve ever mentioned in the same breath as
Tyler Linderbaum as a player. Let me just relish it for a second. But what
separates him? You look, his physical ability. That’s probably No. 1 that
separates him.”
Brian Ferentz then described Linderbaum’s mentality and mindset also as
separators.
“He’s like a unicorn, and you’ll be chasing those forever,” he said. “I
feel confident that I know football and I know offensive line play. The
hard part for me is the absurdity of what you just said. It’s an insane
comparison. He’s so good. I mean that like he is so good. He is on a
different level than most players. Guys that I have a tremendous amount of
respect for as players. Austin Blythe, I think is a great football player,
and I love him. But if we’re playing pickup football and I’ve got one pick,
I’m taking Linderbaum. Now, Blythe’s going to be mad at me, but that’s just
the truth.”
*Loyalty above all*
For the power and swagger he displays on the football field, Linderbaum
shows affection easily off it. During his college career, Linderbaum
traveled to different Eastern Iowa communities to give football instruction
or walked into Solon’s wrestling room to help with workouts. He routinely
met with patients at the UI Children’s Hospital. None of those volunteer
functions came with a tweet of publicity.
“He wants to give back and he has the opportunity to give back, but he also
doesn’t want any (publicity),” Todd Linderbaum said.
“I was teasing Tyler’s dad,” Kirk Ferentz said, “I said he probably rescued
somebody out of like a burning house or something like that on the way over
to the children’s hospital. That’s the kind of guy he is.”
The one moment that drew attention to Linderbaum came with the NIL repeal.
For nearly two weeks last fall, “Baum Squad” sweatshirts became hot
products online, and they raised $30,000. For a college athlete, it was a
considerable amount of money. Many of his teammates kept their NIL income
or pledged a portion of it to charity. Linderbaum donated all of it to the
UI Children’s Hospital.
“My whole mindset of it, whether it be $1,000 or $20,000 or $30,000, I said
I was going to give 100 percent of the profit,” Linderbaum said. “I’m not
too worried about how much money I have right now. With all the NIL stuff,
it’s kind of cool I can do stuff like this. I think having 100 bucks is a
lot, so I’ll be fine. I don’t have to pay for school with my scholarship,
so I’m living life fine. I think donating $30,000 to the children’s
hospital is more important than that.”
The donation did not surprise his parents. Of course, his mother noticed
his appearance at the check presentation.
“Clearly he showed up in a torn jacket,” she said with a laugh. “He’s just
very grateful for the littlest things. Even as a child, he never asked for
anything, ever. He’s fine with his brother’s hand-me-downs. Always has
been. For us it’s like, ‘You need a new pair of shoes.’ ‘No, these are
fine. I have these.’ I’m like, ‘You need a new pair of shoes. There are
holes in (them).’ I mean, he makes do with what he has.”
While simplicity wraps his exterior, loyalty never strays too far from
Linderbaum’s makeup. He grew up an Iowa fan and when the scholarship offer
came his way, he jumped on it and never looked back.
Linderbaum had no interest in even entertaining the question about whether
he’d play in the Citrus Bowl against Kentucky. Late in the fourth quarter
when he suffered a foot sprain so painful that he couldn’t walk without a
serious hobble, Linderbaum returned to the field after missing just three
plays.
Although the injury kept him out of workouts for NFL scouts, Linderbaum
remained steadfast he made the right decision.
“I wouldn’t change it,” he said. “I’d play in that game if I could again.
Hopefully go out on a win.”
Linderbaum stayed in Iowa City to train this winter because, “I’m not going
to leave the place that helped me get where I’m at.”
With a bachelor’s degree in hand and first-team All-American honors,
Linderbaum had nothing left to prove when he returned home from the
Hawkeyes’ bowl game. Yet it took him nearly two weeks to finalize his
decision to leave for the NFL. He announced his plan only three days before
the deadline.
“He was still torn,” Todd Linderbaum said. “I think it’s maybe twofold.
One, you go back to the summer of his senior year with baseball. He didn’t
want to leave his buddies behind. *I’ve gotta finish this out here.* I
think the same analogy, maybe it could be used with football. He didn’t
want to leave his buddies behind.”
“It’s hard for him to make decisions, what’s best for me versus what’s best
for the team,” Lisa Linderbaum said. “This decision ultimately was what was
best for him, unfortunately, and fortunately.”
With few exceptions, the Linderbaum family met at an Iowa City-area Hy-Vee
and enjoyed breakfast together every Sunday morning. Often, the family
would ask him to do his laundry just to see him for a few extra minutes or
take him out to dinner. That all changes on draft night when NFL
commissioner Roger Goodell unveils Linderbaum’s football destination.
Whether it’s loyalty or love or just preference to avoid the spotlight,
Linderbaum will watch the draft with family in Solon.
“You take just those little tiny moments that you do get with him and you
enjoy it,” said Todd Linderbaum, who started to become emotional. “Whatever
happens, we’re just tickled that there’s an interest in our son to play at
the highest level of football. Wherever that direction takes him, oh man,
we’ll be there on Sunday watching him and supporting him.”
*(Top photo: Robin Alam / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)*
How soon-to-be first-round NFL Draft pick Tyler Linderbaum became an Iowa
football icon
Scott Dochterman <https://theathletic.com/author/scott-dochterman/>
Apr 11, 2022
27
[image: Save Article]
SOLON, Iowa — If NFL <https://theathletic.com/nfl/> executives wanted to
watch Iowa <https://theathletic.com/team/iowa-hawkeyes-college-football/>
center
Tyler Linderbaum squirm during formal meetings at the scouting combine,
they wouldn’t critique his worst plays. They’d praise him for his best
snaps.
“You can never say anything good about the guy. Ever,” said Iowa
quarterback Spencer Petras, one Linderbaum’s roommates and closest friends.
“He’ll just tell you to be quiet or like, ‘Eff off.’”
Rarely do anything but superlatives enter conversations about Linderbaum,
the undisputed top center candidate in this year’s NFL Draft. He was a
unanimous first-team All-American, the Rimington Trophy winner and an
Outland Trophy finalist. Sure, there are a few questions about his size
(6-foot-2, 296 pounds) and it wouldn’t be draft season if arm length
(Linderbaum’s measured 31 7/8 inches) didn’t enter a discussion. But his
on-field play became the gold standard for Pro Football Focus, which ranked
Linderbaum as the nation’s top center two consecutive years.
Linderbaum’s personal qualities are as apparent as his on-field prowess.
When collegiate athletes were granted rights to monetize their name, image
and likeness, Linderbaum sold personalized sweatshirts and donated every
cent to the UI Children’s Hospital. He graduated with a degree in
enterprise leadership in only seven full semesters at Iowa. He played his
final quarter as a Hawkeye with a mid-foot sprain that kept him from
on-field workouts at both the NFL combine and Iowa’s pro day.
Of all the traits that draw people to the 22-year-old Linderbaum, it’s his
loyalty that wins them over. As a high school senior, Linderbaum wanted one
final experience with his friends at Solon (Iowa) High School and played
school-sponsored baseball with a season that stretched into mid-July. Those
afternoon practices and night games coincided every day with his 6 a.m.
workouts in the Iowa football weight room and 11 a.m. summer classes.
Despite his lack of consistent sleep, Linderbaum missed only one baseball
practice, no football workouts, and his baseball team qualified for the
state tournament.
“It gave him that opportunity where he knew, ‘OK, this is what I’m
accepting,” said Todd Linderbaum, Tyler’s father. “‘It’s allowing me to
have one last fling with my high school buddies in baseball, but also to
transition into something that it’s going to lead me into the future.’ I
think he kind of had the best of both worlds.”
Linderbaum didn’t complain about his 18-hour days. He liked the daily
structure and he had help from his family, including a grandmother who
brought him food. His mother, Lisa Linderbaum, called it “a team effort.”
It was a challenge but one he fully accepted.
*‘He didn’t like to lose’*
Growing up in Solon, where his family home is exactly 15 miles north of
Kinnick Stadium, Linderbaum became competitive with his older brother,
Logan, from the moment he could walk. Logan was 3 ½ years older, and they
had their frequent skirmishes. The age difference was amplified in early
competitions, but Linderbaum wouldn’t quit battling, whether it be in
sports, Ping-Pong or a family board game.
“He didn’t like to lose,” Lisa Linderbaum said. “That’s what I always tell
Todd. We should have made him lose as a little boy more often than he did.
Just because if he didn’t win, he was pissy.”
Linderbaum had to prove himself and wasn’t given anything by his brother.
He had to earn his at-bats or snaps in neighborhood games. When Linderbaum
was in third grade and playing flag football, his father coached Logan’s
sixth-grade tackle football team. Logan’s team was short on players one
day, so Linderbaum was told to stand in as a cornerback but not compete in
any drills.
“Before I knew it, he kept creeping up and creeping up and he’s almost at
middle linebacker right over our tackles and guards,” Todd Linderbaum said.
“Oh, buddy, with no pads on, of course. He wanted to get in there and play.
He wasn’t about to sit out there and just be a statue and just be an extra
number for dad and other coaches.”
As he grew, Linderbaum played every sport, but basketball was his favorite.
Logan was a state-qualifying wrestler and eventually earned a scholarship
to compete for Minnesota State-Mankato. Although Linderbaum’s size,
strength and frame screamed wrestler like his older brother, he wouldn’t
give up basketball until his sophomore year. When Linderbaum finally traded
in shorts for a singlet, he had to learn the sport’s technical aspects,
which proved far more difficult than using natural athletic ability.
Linderbaum’s transition to wrestling added to one of the great high school
competitions in eastern Iowa. Solon’s archrival is Mount Vernon, which is
located eight miles to the north. At tournaments and duals throughout the
region, Linderbaum regularly saw and battled Mount Vernon’s Tristan Wirfs
<https://theathletic.com/player/nfl/buccaneers/tristan-wirfs/>. Although
they were friendly, their temperaments were completely different. Wirfs was
an easygoing giant with freakish size and strength. Linderbaum was smaller
but made up for it with intensity and tenacity.
“It got harder every time,” Wirfs said. “I knew it was always going to be
close. But I was always nervous because he’s like a bulldog. He’d come out
all fighting and stuff. I’m like, ‘All right. I’ve got to slow things down.
This is too fast.’”
Wirfs beat Linderbaum every time by fall through three regular seasons.
Then, the schools were matched up in a regional dual with the winner
qualifying for the team state tournament. Solon already had locked up the
dual meet by the time Wirfs and Linderbaum met in the heavyweight match.
Wirfs tried to throw Linderbaum as he did in every previous matchup. This
time, Linderbaum caught Wirfs, powered him to his back and pinned him with
six seconds left.
“The night of those matches, there was some juice to it, let’s not kid
yourself,” Todd Linderbaum said. “Two combatants going at it, and two
pretty competitive kids, obviously. Tristan got him every time but one.
That was quite the night out there.
“I would say a friendly competitive rivalry of two young kids just giving
it their all is what those were, but good intensity to say the least.”
Wirfs won the Class 2A individual heavyweight title a week later while
Linderbaum helped Solon claim the Class 2A state team title. They later
became teammates and friends at Iowa and started on the same offensive line
during the 2019 season.
“He got me on the last one at the end of the dual,” Wirfs said. “That’s the
one everybody remembers.”
Without fail, Linderbaum mentions that Wirfs won the other matchups.
“We’ve always competed against each other, whether it be football,
baseball, track, obviously wrestling,” Linderbaum said. “I’ve wrestled him
quite a bit. He’s beaten me quite a few times. I’m happy I got one match on
him, but he’s a great competitor. He’s someone who’s made me better.”
*‘The best I’ve seen’*
Linderbaum signed at Iowa as a defensive tackle and played in two games
while redshirting in 2018. During postseason bowl preparation, Iowa coach
Kirk Ferentz asked Linderbaum if he would consider moving to center. In a
move that still fires up the program’s defensive coaches, Linderbaum agreed.
By the next spring, Linderbaum was firmly entrenched as the first freshman
to start at center in 13 years. He and Petras carried footballs around
campus and Linderbaum would snap to his quarterback.
“That’s a good example of trusting your coaches and being coachable,” Lisa
Linderbaum said. “You allow yourself to do that.”
Despite his lack of experience, Linderbaum became the tone-setter on an
offensive line that included Wirfs and four-year starting left tackle
Alaric Jackson, both of whom were first-team All-Big Ten honorees.
Linderbaum battled daily against defensive tackle Daviyon Nixon
<https://theathletic.com/player/nfl/panthers/daviyon-nixon/>, who was a
first-team All-American in 2020, and the young center forced his defensive
teammates to match his tempo in practice or suffer the consequences.
“Some days felt longer than others,” Iowa defensive tackle Noah Shannon
said. “Every day I came to practice it felt like game day for me when I
went against Lindy. He is just a great competitor, and he’s not dirty or
anything like that; he’s just trying. It’s all effort with him, and I knew
I was going to have to give 100 percent because he’s not coming with
anything less.”
“The biggest thing is he’s always in good position with his hands and his
leverage,” Iowa defensive tackle Logan Lee said. “He’s just a freak of
nature. He’s just able to cover so much ground and he’s able to make
something out of nothing, especially like at the start of the rep if you
happen to be winning, he’ll typically find a way to finish the rep on top.”
According to Pro Football Focus, Linderbaum allowed only two sacks in 1,201
pass-blocking snaps over three seasons (0.17%). Linderbaum was ranked as
the nation’s fifth-best center as a redshirt freshman in 2019 and No. 1 in
2020 and 2021. Last year, he graded as the best center since PFF began
evaluating college players nearly 10 seasons ago.
Iowa’s staff asked him to do more than most centers in its outside zone
with reach blocks on three-technique defensive tackles. Linderbaum’s
quickness and ability to reach second-level defenders off a combination
block are rare. His hands, leverage, speed and tenacity helped him win
snaps against larger and stronger defensive linemen.
<https://cdn.theathletic.com/app/uploads/2021/11/21182234/GettyImages-1235703321.jpg>
(Tony Quinn / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Kirk Ferentz regularly downplays player comparisons, and with good reason.
He was the offensive line coach when the Baltimore Ravens
<https://theathletic.com/team/ravens/> drafted Jonathan Ogden in 1996. At
Iowa, Ferentz coached Robert Gallery (2003) and Brandon Scherff
<https://theathletic.com/player/nfl/jaguars/brandon-scherff/> (2014) to
Outland Trophy seasons and honed Eric Steinbach (2002) and Wirfs (2019)
into first-team All-Americans. Another former Iowa pupil, Marshal Yanda
(2005-06), was a unanimous member of the NFL Team of the Decade for the
2010s. So when the old line coach evokes a historic name, even in passing,
he does so for a reason.
“The thing that jumps out most to me about him is his consistency,” Ferentz
said. “I go back to growing up as a young person. Mike Webster was a guy,
boy, was he a good center. I remember going up to Latrobe (Pa.) and
watching them practice. He made everything look easy. You know it’s not
easy, blocking a guy like Joe Greene. After practice, Joe Greene and he
went one-on-one. What do you think a ticket like that would cost if it was
for public consumption? Two of the all-time great NFL players.
“Just the things he did, the work, the consistency. Just looked like it was
almost easy. It’s not. There’s nothing like that, especially in the NFL or
what we’re doing. That’s how I would describe Tyler. So efficient, so
focused and usually pretty sound fundamentally. He wins a lot of battles
because of that.
“The other part I would just say about him, you meet him, I don’t know if
low key is the right word, but he’s not an outward rambunctious guy. He’s
ultra-competitive.”
Teammates, college rivals and evaluators alike appreciate what Linderbaum
brings to every competition.
“He’s definitely just like you guys see,” said Wisconsin first-team
All-American linebacker Leo Chenal. “He’s really fast, he’s super athletic,
he’s definitely earned the top whatever lineman, definitely at his
position. Because he’s fast, he’ll get to the second level really quick, so
you got to be careful.”
“We’ve had very good luck with Iowa players over the years,” Ravens general
manager Eric DeCosta said. “Marshal Yanda, to me, Hall of Famer someday.
When we look at a guy like Tyler Linderbaum, we see a lot of the same
qualities — tough, gritty, very, very athletic, very intelligent, smart,
the type of guy who could really be the centerpiece of your offensive line.
Teams picking in the top 15, I think have a chance to get themselves a
really good offensive lineman.”
Fellow Iowa offensive lineman Kyler Schott wrestled Linderbaum in high
school and played beside him the last few years.
“I’ve played with some pretty good O-linemen: Tristan Wirfs, Alaric
Jackson, Sean Welsh, Ike Boettger
<https://theathletic.com/player/nfl/bills/ike-boettger/>,” Schott said,
“and he’s the best I’ve seen out of all of them.”
Iowa’s most recent three multi-year starters at center — James Ferentz
<https://theathletic.com/player/nfl/patriots/james-ferentz/> (Patriots
<https://theathletic.com/team/patriots/>), Austin Blythe
<https://theathletic.com/player/nfl/seahawks/austin-blythe/> (Seahawks
<https://theathletic.com/team/seahawks/>), James Daniels
<https://theathletic.com/player/nfl/steelers/james-daniels/> (Steelers
<https://theathletic.com/team/steelers/>) — all are on NFL rosters. Every
starting Iowa center but one in the last 20 years, including offensive
coordinator Brian Ferentz, has signed an NFL contract. Brian Ferentz, like
Linderbaum, was a team captain his final season but he laughed at any
comparison between himself and his young protégé.
“I’m so flattered right now. I’m serious,” Brian Ferentz said. “That’s
insanity. That’d be the last time I’ve ever mentioned in the same breath as
Tyler Linderbaum as a player. Let me just relish it for a second. But what
separates him? You look, his physical ability. That’s probably No. 1 that
separates him.”
Brian Ferentz then described Linderbaum’s mentality and mindset also as
separators.
“He’s like a unicorn, and you’ll be chasing those forever,” he said. “I
feel confident that I know football and I know offensive line play. The
hard part for me is the absurdity of what you just said. It’s an insane
comparison. He’s so good. I mean that like he is so good. He is on a
different level than most players. Guys that I have a tremendous amount of
respect for as players. Austin Blythe, I think is a great football player,
and I love him. But if we’re playing pickup football and I’ve got one pick,
I’m taking Linderbaum. Now, Blythe’s going to be mad at me, but that’s just
the truth.”
*Loyalty above all*
For the power and swagger he displays on the football field, Linderbaum
shows affection easily off it. During his college career, Linderbaum
traveled to different Eastern Iowa communities to give football instruction
or walked into Solon’s wrestling room to help with workouts. He routinely
met with patients at the UI Children’s Hospital. None of those volunteer
functions came with a tweet of publicity.
“He wants to give back and he has the opportunity to give back, but he also
doesn’t want any (publicity),” Todd Linderbaum said.
“I was teasing Tyler’s dad,” Kirk Ferentz said, “I said he probably rescued
somebody out of like a burning house or something like that on the way over
to the children’s hospital. That’s the kind of guy he is.”
The one moment that drew attention to Linderbaum came with the NIL repeal.
For nearly two weeks last fall, “Baum Squad” sweatshirts became hot
products online, and they raised $30,000. For a college athlete, it was a
considerable amount of money. Many of his teammates kept their NIL income
or pledged a portion of it to charity. Linderbaum donated all of it to the
UI Children’s Hospital.
“My whole mindset of it, whether it be $1,000 or $20,000 or $30,000, I said
I was going to give 100 percent of the profit,” Linderbaum said. “I’m not
too worried about how much money I have right now. With all the NIL stuff,
it’s kind of cool I can do stuff like this. I think having 100 bucks is a
lot, so I’ll be fine. I don’t have to pay for school with my scholarship,
so I’m living life fine. I think donating $30,000 to the children’s
hospital is more important than that.”
The donation did not surprise his parents. Of course, his mother noticed
his appearance at the check presentation.
“Clearly he showed up in a torn jacket,” she said with a laugh. “He’s just
very grateful for the littlest things. Even as a child, he never asked for
anything, ever. He’s fine with his brother’s hand-me-downs. Always has
been. For us it’s like, ‘You need a new pair of shoes.’ ‘No, these are
fine. I have these.’ I’m like, ‘You need a new pair of shoes. There are
holes in (them).’ I mean, he makes do with what he has.”
While simplicity wraps his exterior, loyalty never strays too far from
Linderbaum’s makeup. He grew up an Iowa fan and when the scholarship offer
came his way, he jumped on it and never looked back.
Linderbaum had no interest in even entertaining the question about whether
he’d play in the Citrus Bowl against Kentucky. Late in the fourth quarter
when he suffered a foot sprain so painful that he couldn’t walk without a
serious hobble, Linderbaum returned to the field after missing just three
plays.
Although the injury kept him out of workouts for NFL scouts, Linderbaum
remained steadfast he made the right decision.
“I wouldn’t change it,” he said. “I’d play in that game if I could again.
Hopefully go out on a win.”
Linderbaum stayed in Iowa City to train this winter because, “I’m not going
to leave the place that helped me get where I’m at.”
With a bachelor’s degree in hand and first-team All-American honors,
Linderbaum had nothing left to prove when he returned home from the
Hawkeyes’ bowl game. Yet it took him nearly two weeks to finalize his
decision to leave for the NFL. He announced his plan only three days before
the deadline.
“He was still torn,” Todd Linderbaum said. “I think it’s maybe twofold.
One, you go back to the summer of his senior year with baseball. He didn’t
want to leave his buddies behind. *I’ve gotta finish this out here.* I
think the same analogy, maybe it could be used with football. He didn’t
want to leave his buddies behind.”
“It’s hard for him to make decisions, what’s best for me versus what’s best
for the team,” Lisa Linderbaum said. “This decision ultimately was what was
best for him, unfortunately, and fortunately.”
With few exceptions, the Linderbaum family met at an Iowa City-area Hy-Vee
and enjoyed breakfast together every Sunday morning. Often, the family
would ask him to do his laundry just to see him for a few extra minutes or
take him out to dinner. That all changes on draft night when NFL
commissioner Roger Goodell unveils Linderbaum’s football destination.
Whether it’s loyalty or love or just preference to avoid the spotlight,
Linderbaum will watch the draft with family in Solon.
“You take just those little tiny moments that you do get with him and you
enjoy it,” said Todd Linderbaum, who started to become emotional. “Whatever
happens, we’re just tickled that there’s an interest in our son to play at
the highest level of football. Wherever that direction takes him, oh man,
we’ll be there on Sunday watching him and supporting him.”
*(Top photo: Robin Alam / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)*
