Paul Hufford was a football player for the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

from 1982-1984. He was twice named All-

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

and was the first player to win the Big Ten’s Defensive Lineman of the Year award in 1984.

Background

Paul Hufford was born in

Keokuk, Iowa Keokuk is a city in and a county seat of Lee County, Iowa, United States, along with Fort Madison. It is Iowa's southernmost city. The population was 9,900 at the time of the 2020 census. The city is named after the Sauk chief Keokuk, who is ...

, but he moved to

Mount Vernon, Iowa Mount Vernon is a city in Linn County, Iowa, United States, adjacent to the city of Lisbon. The population was 4,527 at the time of the 2020 census. Mount Vernon is part of the Cedar Rapids Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Mount Vernon ...

, before high school. Hufford was a standout athlete at Mount Vernon from 1976-1980. He lettered in four sports and won state championships in wrestling and track. Despite suffering a knee injury his senior year of high school, he earned a scholarship to the

, where his older brothers, Joe and Mike Hufford, were football letterwinners.

Iowa career

Paul Hufford earned football letters from 1982-1984. As a junior in 1983, he was an all-Big Ten selection at defensive tackle. Paul Hufford served as a captain of the 1984 Hawkeye football team, and Iowa finished with an 8-4-1 record and a victory in the 1984

Freedom Bowl The Freedom Bowl was an annual post-season college football bowl game played at Anaheim Stadium in Anaheim, California, from 1984 to 1994. The bowl frequently invited a team from the Western Athletic Conference to compete against an at-large opp ...

. He was an all-Big Ten selection for the second time,Hawkeye Legends, Lists, & Lore, by Mike Finn & Chad Leistikow, Page 172 () and the Big Ten named him the first winner of its Defensive Lineman of the Year award after his senior season in 1984.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hufford, Paul Iowa Hawkeyes football players Living people People from Keokuk, Iowa People from Mount Vernon, Iowa Year of birth missing (living people)