Iowa Football Facebook Community Comes Together for Former Player

If there's one thing that is definitely true about friend behavior, it is that we support each other when something bad happens. No doubt all of us have felt the positive impact in our lives from someone (or someones) who let us know they are with us when something happens. And this is evident inside Facebook, for sure - which brings all of your friends to your back when you need support in a pretty powerful way.

I've not seen it applied to the college athletics landscape before, but came across this today. As you may have heard, former Iowa Hawkeyes Safety Brett Greenwood collapsed in a workout (story via ESPN here). He had been trying to catch on in the NFL and was no doubt pushing himself to stay in game condition.

The reaction inside the Iowa Football Facebook page shows the power of fan support. And as a bonus, it shows the power of a program united. Hit the Iowa Football Facebook Page (here), and take a look (also shown below).




I'll hone into the post that Iowa made around Brett. The tone is sincere, and it lets their fan base know that something has happened, without it feeling over the top.




And what does one fan do? He creates a way for others to show support for Brett by adopting the image below as your profile picture. No doubt this has a pretty big impact as it gains visibility and awareness for what happened while sending a message to the world that you support your team, through good times and tough ones.



I found this inspiring. Really it's not about broadcasting that something tough has happened but rather of showing that the program is a family. And that you will stand together even when your days as a Hawkeye are through.

Great, inspiring stuff from Iowa.

We'll be back Friday with more best practices. Feel free to follow along via Facebook (here) or Twitter (I'm @andypawlowski, here)

Thanks.

Andy