Kinnick Stadium is one of college football’s hallmark attractions. But allegiance for the black and gold doesn’t leave those who leave the hallowed grounds of Iowa.
When Shannon Roth moved to Virginia, her Hawkeye roots went with her. She’s an Iowa alum, and tries to attend one road game every season. Shannon’s so committed, she even got her hands on a Noah Shannon jersey — which she wore to Iowa’s Kids Day at Kinnick open practice.
“We have family in Iowa, but we moved out to Virginia when I was a little kid,” Roth said. “I am still a Hawkeye at heart — I will always be a Hawkeye. I’m very excited that my children will actually get that. They watch on TV every week and get a chance to see them with their helmets off and get the idea that they’re just actually normal people.”
Shannon convinced her husband Brandon to take her two children Tegan and Declan to Iowa City — 909 miles away from their home in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The trip that was half flight, half drive was worth it for a chance for their to take son Declan to the stadium he was named after.
“He finally gets to be in the stadium of his name,” Shannon Roth told me. “We were going to make it his first name, but in Virginia we were worried about everyone would be like, ‘Oh, is that a family name?’ And then we’d be like, ‘Oh no, it’s a football stadium.'”
“It’s pretty cool that they decided to do that,” Declan Kinnick Roth said. “I’m excited to get to meet the players and be in the stadium, that’s pretty cool.”
The Roth family said they plan on attending Iowa vs Penn State in September.
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