© Steven Branscombe/Imagn
While most college football fans in the state of Iowa may root for the Iowa Hawkeyes or Iowa State Cyclones, those up in Cedar Rapids tend to pull for another program: the Northern Iowa Panthers.
The Panthers, who play in the FCS Missouri Valley Conference, have been around for 135 seasons and have won 33 conference championships in their storied history.
They’ve produced multiple NFL players, led by Hall of Famer quarterback Kurt Warner and former Arizona Cardinals star running back David Johnson.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Vincenzo Gianforte is hoping to become the next great Northern Iowa football product, and he’s already showing he plays with an edge.
Almost forgot to post this from UNI’s spring game.
At the end of the game, all the kids got to come down and try to tackle a Northern Iowa player on the kickoff.
One kid might make business decisions for a while. (He seemed to be just fine) pic.twitter.com/3BEO0jzrrD
— Collin Davies (@DaviesCollin) April 27, 2026
After the Panthers’ recent spring football game, they gave all kids in attendance a chance to come onto the field and tackle a UNI player. That player, in this case, was Gianforte. And while you may be thinking to yourself, this is a fun, lighthearted activity, meant for the kids. Gianforte had a different idea in mind.
Not only did he not go down easily, eventually scoring a touchdown, but he also dished out some punishment along the way, delivering a brutal stiff arm to one potential tackle.
Now, did Gianforte have any ill intent? Probably not. Although he did transfer into the UNI program after a year with its rival, Drake, so perhaps there was still some lingering bad blood.
But either way, the moment provided an absolutely hilarious clip, and the kid who got stiff-armed will likely either find a new sport or use it as motivation in the future.