Kirk Ferentz discusses death in Diante Vines’ family, human aspect of football

Iowa receiver Diante Vines banged on his chest and pointed up to the sky after catching his first career touchdown on Saturday against Western Michigan. Those watching might not have realized at the time the true meaning behind the gesture, but there was a lot more on the Hawkeyes receiver’s mind than just that score.

Vines revealed after the game that his uncle passed away from cancer about a week ago. The junior told reporters that when he put his arms out and looked up, he was thinking of honoring him in that moment.

The touchdown was a long time coming for Vines. He began his career at Iowa in 2021 but suffered an Achilles injury as a true freshman and missed the first six games of 2022 due to a wrist injury. This season is the first time he’s been fully healthy in a while, and coach Kirk Ferentz was happy to see him make an impact in spite of all he was dealing with.

“Again, tying in with the injury situation, there’s a real human aspect,” Ferentz said. “When you have a team of 100-plus players, you can imagine there’s frequently something going on with family members. We’re talking about just impacting lives. It’s easy for us sometimes in general terms to overlook that stuff or you forget those things because we’re all focused on the games and performance. Each and every one of these guys have personal lives. They’re from very diverse backgrounds.

“So there’s always something going on somewhere on the football team with someone’s story. How they choose to handle it is up to them. We respect that. I think it was about a year ago this time Leshon (Williams) was back for a funeral. So it’s tough. How the players try to deal with it, that’s kind of personal but we try to support ’em in each and every way.”

McNamara ➡️ Vines

Diante Vines with his first career TD for @HawkeyeFootball 👏 pic.twitter.com/p8ELwHS61r

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 16, 2023

Vines’ touchdown was a 3-yard connection delivered in the back of the end zone from Cade McNamara. It was the first score of the game for Iowa as it went on to win 41-10. Vines finished the game with two catches for seven yards.

The receiver has just 13 catches for 108 yards over his entire career, but that’s at least in part due to his injuries. Ferentz continued to heap praise on Vines’ determination to move past those setbacks as well as the mental fortitude to play through the passing of his uncle.

“As it pertains to Diante, he’s just had a great career,” the coach said. “He’s had so much hardship and it’s just good to see him out there playing. He’s having fun right now. He’s able to practice every day. It sounds pretty mundane and basic, but those are things he hasn’t been able to do throughout his career without having some brace on his wrist or whatever.

“It’s just good to see him playing the way he wants to and envisioned himself when he came here a couple of years ago.”

Diante Vines will hope to keep his play up when Iowa travels to face Penn State in Week 4. That will give him a chance to see even more family, as his hometown of Danbury, Connecticut is just a little more than four hours away from State College.

Kickoff between the Hawkeyes and Nittany Lions is set for 6:30 p.m. CT on Saturday.