Iowa football safety Kaevon Merriweather elevates Black voices

Merriweather has spearheaded the Hawkeyes’ efforts to bring attention to Black history and issues Black Americans face. In February, he helped launch a video series on Black inventors and innovators.

Jerod Ringwald

Iowa defensive back Kaevon Merriweather uses a TV reporter’s camera to film teammates during the Vrbo Citrus Bowl Day for Kids at Fun Spot America Theme Park in Orlando, Fla., on Thursday, Dec. 30, 2021. Citrus Bowl Day for Kids is a 2022 Vrbo Citrus Bowl sponsored event that hosts both Iowa and Kentucky. Players from both teams grouped up with children and participated in rides and various activities around the theme park.

Austin Hanson, Sports Editor
April 5, 2022

Iowa safety Kaevon Merriweather has never been afraid to speak his mind, particularly on issues that matter to him.

When former Hawkeye football players brought allegations of racism within Iowa’s program to light, Merriweather became one of the foremost voices on head coach Kirk Ferentz’s active roster.

The 2020 season was the first in which Iowa football players could choose to kneel or stand during the national anthem. Some Iowa fans had objections to Ferentz and his team’s decision.

Merriweather met fan pushback head-on with a written statement of his own on Twitter.  In the letter — released on June 8, 2020 — the 6-foot, 211-pound defensive back told fans that they should not root for Iowa if they do not support the Hawkeyes’ national anthem movement.

“I would rather play in front of 1,000 fans who care about us as people outside of football and what we are standing for than 70,000 fans who only care about us when we are in uniform and on the field entertaining them,” Merriweather wrote.

A report from Husch Blackwell, a legal firm based in Kansas City, was released on July 31. The documents confirmed that Iowa football “perpetuated racial biases.”

Before the report was released, the University of Iowa had already reached a separation agreement with strength and conditioning coach Chris Doyle — who was at the heart of many allegations of racial bias.

Since June 2020, the Iowa football program has made a number of changes to improve its culture — many of which Merriweather has noted he is pleased with.

During February 2022, Merriweather spearheaded a new initiative. Merriweather and his teammates helped produce videos highlighting a number of Black inventors and innovators throughout Black History Month. The videos were distributed via the Iowa football team’s twitter account (@HawkeyeFootball).

Lewis Howard Latimer, who developed the carbon filament for incandescent light bulbs, and Garrett Morgan, inventor of the stoplight, were among the innovators profiled during the series.

“It’s not publicized stuff,” Merriweather told The Daily Iowan. “Some of the information was on web pages that probably don’t even have 10 visitors a day or something like that … It was a list of people, and you had to go find that list. Then, just start doing research on it. Start looking up the names and find tidbits of information and websites that talk about them. 

“It wouldn’t be any major websites,” Merriweather added. “It was just websites that had documented information. It was interesting. I think everybody that took part in that event definitely enjoyed it.”

Merriweather said the idea for the series hit him as Black History Month approached. Merriweather knew he wanted to spotlight Black excellence in a unique way. Highlighting Black inventors was an outside-the-box way to do so.

“I just wanted us to have something for the football team to actually do for the month of February,” Merriweather said. “I just wanted to focus on things you don’t really think about. I think, a lot of times, we focus on prominent people like Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, focus on prominent athletes like Jesse Owens, Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan. You know, you focus on people like that. We don’t talk about those inventors that created those little things throughout our history that we really don’t think about on a day-to-day basis.

“I think that was kind of the main focus point,” Merriweather added. “Just bringing about knowledge of things that we use in everyday life. Even doing research I found out things I didn’t even know were created by African Americans.”

Merriweather won the first annual Duke Slater Golden Gavel Award in December. The honor is bestowed upon an “Iowa football player, who not only is most cooperative with local media, but exhibits themself with professional integrity in all interactions.”

The recipient of the Golden Gavel is decided via a vote among select media personnel that cover Hawkeye football regularly.  In a Dec. 23 story, 24/7 Sports’ David Eickholt wrote that, no matter the topic, Merriweather always exhibits professionalism.

Merriweather told reporters he’d like to become a two-time Golden Gavel Award-winner next season. Merriweather later added that he likes to speak honestly, especially on subjects that mean a great deal to him.

“I think it’s just something that’s kinda on my heart to talk about,” Merriweather said. “Just Black history in general and Black issues in America — being an African American myself — that’s something I have to live with every single day. So, I think just helping the populace or spreading information or informing people about Black history, that’s something that I feel like I should kinda do my part about. You know, bring about awareness of it.”