Iowa State Student Manager Joins Football Team As A Walk-On

Iowa State student manager Gage Gunnerson is not your typical manager. He was a four-sport athlete at Carroll Keumper High School in Carroll, Iowa. His sport was football, where he scored 28 total touchdowns in 11 games during his senior year, even gaining an offer from Northern Iowa to play quarterback.
The 6-foot-2, 220-pound Gunnerson enrolled at Iowa State and became the equipment manager for defensive line coach Eli Rasheed. His work ethic created an impression on Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell.
“He’s a guy that I think certainly earned the trust because of how he did the job that he did every day with our program,” Campbell said.
Gunnerson’s work ethic was so good that Campbell allowed Gunnerson to be a walk-on for the Cyclones. His inclusion to join the team was not only because of his work ethic but his ability to play quarterback. In the annual managers and program trainers’ game at Iowa State, Gunnerson looked impressive at quarterback as he was able to find the end zone multiple times and ran the ball well. Campbell was impressed with how Gunnerson played and decided that Iowa State needed someone like him on the team.
This is not the first time that Gunnerson has impressed Iowa State’s football personnel. He tried on Iowa State’s black uniforms last year, the coaches thought that the jersey perfectly fitted Gunnerson.
“They were like, wow, you’re filling that out really well,” Gunnerson’s mom, Cindy Menke said on what the coaches thought.
Gunnerson is currently listed as a tight end for the Cyclones, but the coaches are open to putting him anywhere on the field. He could even rejoin Rasheed as a defensive lineman. Gunnerson is happy that he made the team as a walk-on but wants to continue his story at Iowa State with a lot of playing time during his collegiate career.