Iowa wide receiver Brandon Smith declares for NFL Draft, team’s bowl game in doubt

The senior is the second Hawkeye pass catcher to declare for the draft prior to the team’s bowl game, a game that may not be happening.

Katie Goodale

Iowa Wide Receiver Brandon Smith catches the first touchdown pass of the game during the Iowa v Northwestern football game at Kinnick Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 31, 2020. The Wildcats defeated the Hawkeyes 21-20.

Robert Read, Pregame Editor
December 27, 2020

Iowa wide receiver Brandon Smith announced on Twitter Sunday that he is declaring for the 2021 NFL Draft and will not play in the team’s bowl game. That is, if the game even happens.

Iowa’s Dec. 30 matchup with Missouri in the Music City Bowl is suddenly in doubt again because of an uptick in positive COVID-19 cases within the Tiger program. The Tigers are “highly, highly doubtful” to play in the bowl game, according to a story in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Sunday. The story said Missouri had a spike in positive COVID-19 cases after its Dec. 19 game with Mississippi State and that the team’s Sunday practice was canceled.

The Hawkeyes returned to practice Saturday for the first time since Dec. 15. Iowa paused all in-person activities on Monday because of positive COVID-19 cases within its program.

If the bowl game does end up being played, Iowa will be without its top two wide receivers. Smith joins Ihmir Smith-Marsette as another wide receiver to declare for a draft before the bowl game. The senior’s final game as a Hawkeye was Dec. 12 against Wisconsin, a game in which he caught three passes for 30 yards, as well as a two-point conversion.

“2020 has been a difficult year for so many, and I would not have gotten through it without my brothers on the field,” Smith said on Twitter. “We are more than teammates. We are family. Thank you, Hawkeye Nation, for everything. I promise to make you proud as I continue my career in the NFL.”

Smith thanked head coach Kirk Ferentz and assistant coach Kelvin Bell in his post.

A 6-foot-2, 215-pounder, Smith became known as a physical wide receiver who could go up and snatch the ball out of the air and away from any defender. He finishes his Hawkeye career with 91 receptions for 1,041 yards and nine touchdowns.