Larry Station
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Larry W. Station Jr. (born December 5, 1963) is an American former professional
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
player who was a
linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...
for the
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of the
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...
(NFL). He played
college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...
at the
University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...
. He is Iowa's leader in career tackles and was twice named as a consensus first-team
All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...
. Station was inducted into the
College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive Tourist attraction, attraction devoted to college football, college American football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players ...
in 2009.


Early life

Station was born and raised in
Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...
, just across the river from Iowa. Station attended
Omaha Central High School Omaha Central High School, originally known as Omaha High School, is a fully accredited public high school located in downtown Omaha, Nebraska, United States. It is one of many public high schools located in Omaha. As of the 2023–2024 academi ...
., where he received three varsity letters, in football, track, and tennis. He was a two-time first-team all-state football selection in high school and was named captain of his football team. Station was twice named the captain of his high school track team, for which he competed in
shot put The shot put is a track-and-field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical Ball (sports), ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. For men, the sport has been a part of the Olympic Games, modern Olympics since their 1896 Summer Olym ...
and
discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field sport in which the participant athlete throws an oblate spheroid weight (object), weight called a discus in an attempt to mark a further distance than other competitors. It is a ...
. He won the Nebraska state title in the shot put his junior and senior years and won the state title in discus his senior year. In Station's senior year in 1982, he led his high school to the state championship at the Nebraska state high school track meet. In that meet, he won the state title in the shot put by setting a state meet record which stood for 17 years. In addition to being all-city and all-conference in both football and track, Station was a top tennis player in high school. At age 14, he was ranked third in singles and first in doubles in the state of Nebraska. Station was the Nebraska state juniors tennis champion while in high school. He was so adept at tennis that Iowa coach
Hayden Fry John Hayden Fry (February 28, 1929 – December 17, 2019) was an American college football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Southern Methodist University (SMU) from 1962 to 1972, North Texas State University—now known ...
offered to let him play on the Hawkeye tennis team, an offer Station declined.Station's Register Hall of Fame Bio


College career

Station only started five football games at the
University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...
in 1982 as a true freshman, yet he led the team with 88 tackles. He was Iowa's defensive player of the game against Michigan and he had 15 tackles against Indiana on homecoming. He helped Iowa lead the Big Ten in both rushing defense and total defense in 1982, and Station was a second-team All-
Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...
selection. As a sophomore in 1983, Larry Station led Iowa in tackles in seven games. He was Iowa's defensive player of the game against Purdue and Illinois and led Iowa with 138 tackles on the year. Station helped lead Iowa to a 9–3 record and a berth in the Gator Bowl. Station was selected as a consensus first-team All-Big Ten linebacker and was a second-team
All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...
. In 1984, Station again led Iowa in tackles with 137 and recovered fumbles in three Big Ten games. He had 21 tackles against Minnesota and three sacks against Northwestern. He was selected as first-team All-
Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives in 1 ...
for the second time and was a consensus first team All-American in 1984. Station was also Iowa's fourth academic All-American. In Station's senior season in 1985, he helped lead Iowa to its first outright Big Ten title in 27 years. He led Iowa in tackles for the fourth straight season with 129. He was selected as a co-captain and the co-MVP of the 1985 Hawkeyes. Station was a finalist for the
Lombardi Award The Rotary Lombardi Award is an award for college football in the United States. Awarded by the Rotary Club of Houston, Texas annually to the college football player "who best embodies the values and spirit of NFL's legendary coach Vince Lombard ...
and the
Butkus Award The Butkus Award, instituted in 1985 by the Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando, is given annually to the top linebackers at the high school, collegiate and professional levels of football. The award, named in honor of College Football Hall of Fame ...
, and he was twice selected as Iowa's defensive player of the game in 1985. He was selected as a first-team All-Big Ten player for the third consecutive year, and for the second consecutive year, Larry Station was a consensus first-team All-American. He was also chosen as an Academic All-American for the second straight year and won Iowa's Scholastic Achievement Award. Station had 492 career tackles, the most in Hawkeye history, but he is best remembered for one: his game-saving tackle of running back Jamie Morris in Iowa's 1985 game against Michigan. The game was one of the most anticipated in school history, as Iowa was ranked #1 in the Associated Press poll, while Michigan was ranked #2. Michigan held a 10–9 lead with just minutes left on the clock at
Kinnick Stadium Kinnick Stadium is a stadium located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the home stadium of the University of Iowa Iowa Hawkeyes football, Hawkeyes football team. Opened in 1929 as Iowa Stadium to replace Iowa Field, it currently holds u ...
, when the Wolverines faced third down and two yards for a first down. Station anticipated the handoff to Morris and reacted with lightning speed, dropping Morris for a two-yard loss. The Wolverines were forced to punt, and Iowa kicker Rob Houghtlin kicked a game-winning field goal as time expired to give Iowa a cherished 12–10 victory.


Retirement

In his final game at Iowa, Station injured his back and was forced to leave early in the 1986 Rose Bowl against
UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...
. Station never fully recovered from that injury, and he played just one year of professional football with the
Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...
, who drafted Station in the 11th round of the 1986 NFL Draft, before being forced into retirement from football. Station then obtained a master's degree in business administration from
Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853 by a group of civic leaders and named for George Washington, the university spans 355 acres across its Danforth ...
. He returned to Omaha, where he bought his family's grocery store, Bedford Market, and a number of rental properties he oversees. Station lives in Omaha three of children.


Honors

Not only does Station hold the record for career tackles at Iowa, he is the only player to have led the Hawkeyes in tackles in four seasons. Iowa went 35–13–1 during his four years there, and he helped lead the Hawkeyes to four bowl games. Station is only the second Iowa player to twice be named a consensus first team All-American (
Cal Jones Calvin Jack Jones (February 7, 1933 – December 9, 1956) was an American professional football guard. Jones played college football for the Iowa Hawkeyes and he is one of only two players (along with Nile Kinnick) to have his jersey number ret ...
is the other). Station was inducted into the Iowa Sports Hall of Fame in 2000. He was elected to the
College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive Tourist attraction, attraction devoted to college football, college American football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players ...
in 2009. In 1989, Iowa fans selected an all-time Iowa football team during the 100th anniversary celebration of Iowa football, and Station was selected to the team as a linebacker. In 1999, ''
Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...
'' selected Larry Station as the 38th greatest sports figure in history from the state of Nebraska.SI's Greatest Sports Figures
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References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Station, Larry 1963 births Living people American football linebackers Iowa Hawkeyes football players Pittsburgh Steelers players All-American college football players College Football Hall of Fame inductees Olin Business School (Washington University) alumni Omaha Central High School alumni Players of American football from Omaha, Nebraska