Hawkeye kicker Drew Stevens' mom talks about her son's game-winner; plus her own Iowa history

all right we're standing here outside the Hawkeye huddle with Michelle Stevens the mother of Drew Stevens Hawkeye star kicker this year Michelle I know it's been just a a couple of years that Drew's been on the team how has he enjoyed this time as a Hawkeye and how have you enjoyed being uh welcomed in by the Hawkeye family uh well I was born a Hawkeye is that right I'm from Cedar rids I went to Spirit Lake High School but uh just for him to have a taste of what I had growing up has been amazing and I think it's really um helped his maturity level and uh the game that he loves he's getting better every day and so um managing the ups and downs has been great to watch and uh look forward to everything else he has coming towards him you're dropping some knowledge on me that I didn't know I I know I knew you're from South Carolina that's where you live right now is that right so I was born in Cedar Rapids and I graduated I grew up in Northwest Iowa okay and then my degree in uh turf grass management took me to Augusta National in Augusta Georgia and we live across the river in North Augusta so uh were you a golfer growing up too no I did I played Four Sports in Iowa I did volleyball basketball track softball so we never played soccer and never played golf and that's what my kids do so funny okay so you would have grown up a Hawkeye fan is that right yes but then I went to Iowa State cuz my degreees in turf grass you don't go to Iowa for turf grass your whole life confuses me now I don't know it's all over the place what's your earliest memory of the Hawkeyes is there a bowl game or football game early on that you remember well we went all my because we lived in Cedar Avid when I was little we were I remember going to Minnesota Iowa was always the game we didn't miss because my aunt lived in Minneapolis and so um just with my family the hillsides at Iowa State we used to always sit there because we could run around but um yeah I have a lot of great memories basketball and football at Iowa um so you would have been at the Minnesota game this year unfortunately I was at the Minnesota game this year and right in front of me Cooper made a touchdown was it a fair catch the final word I don't know as a special teams Guru I feel like I've never seen them call that and they didn't call it in the game that was going on that day uh was it North Carolina yeah same thing North Carolina let's play we're not here to ask questions uh so would you have been part of the recruiting then helping Drew guide him maybe to become a Hawkeye eventually later in life maybe kind of as a joke like jokingly like you know Iowa has good kickers and one of the first uh training sessions I took him to in Charlotte with his trainer Keith Duncan was there for like a break like a refresher and he got back to Drew came back to the car and I'm like Drew you're going to be mad but I'm going to be that Mom we're going to get a picture with Keith Duncan and so that kind of was like the funny part of it and then Keith followed Drew and Drew followed Keith and so they kind of not a lot of conversation but just some like keep up good work that was awesome watching you and so a couple times they trained together and then all the covid cards and all that fell into place and uh were you at Wrigley Field this year we were okay we actually that was one kick we could see cuz at the other end zone that we were equal at the goal post so we couldn't tell so just tell me about that moment where you see him kick that game winning 53 yard field goal against Northwest or what that was like for you guys' parents um well it was a little I don't usually get that nervous um but because it was almost the exact same kick from the beginning of the game I actually had a lot more confidence in it cuz he'd already seen it once and uh I think pressure-wise he doesn't see the high I mean he doesn't see highs and lows and so I think that's why he's been successful starting out in high school never kicked before and then he's the varsity kicker and I think just kind of blocking out this like the situation and just kicking the ball is really beneficial for him so yeah I know obviously had a rough stretch there at the end against Nebraska for you guys as parents how do you help build his confidence back up help build him up again to make sure that that you guys help him along as far as his career progresses I mean I think always uh as a parent and we're pretty hard on our kids like if we tell you good job you really earned it um and so I think that just if you do well and you like be glad that you did well and then you move on and then the same thing goes when you have a mistake or something that doesn't go your way just reflect on it how can I get better and move on really as the kicker that mentality has to be like that or you just get too high and that caus you to be low and too low caus you to be high so can you give us a prediction for the game tomorrow um well I have a kicker but I love touchdowns so I would love for a j to have four extra points tomorrow so I'm going to go 217 and the Seven is just for my friends in North Augusta that are Tennessee fans okay okay all right