Original prankster

When Iowa's Kevin Kasper isn't catching passes, he's catching his teammates off-guard

By Glenn Kasses
The Daily Northwestern

Iowa wide receiver Kevin Kasper has glued shut dorm room doors, left hotel room chairs in the shower and burst out of lockers to scare teammates. Yet Hawkeyes wide receiver coach Lester Erb still pays Kasper the highest compliment.

"If you ever had a daughter and you wanted your daughter to date somebody, Kevin's the type of kid you'd want her to bring home," Erb said. "Kevin's just a fantastic, fantastic person."

Based on what the coach has seen this year from Kasper, it's no surprise he speaks so highly of him. In the eighth game of the year, Kasper broke the Iowa single-season record for catches and is currently tied for the career record with 146.

Kasper has been the focus of the Iowa offense for much of the season. He has 71 catches for 858 yards one more yard receiving than Ladell Betts, the team's leading ball carrier, has rushing. His six touchdowns also lead the Hawkeyes.

"When you go into any season, you never really know what the season's going to hold and how successful you're going to be," Erb said. "But going into this season we knew that Kevin was going to be a guy we needed to step up and make plays for us."

For Kasper, the role of record-setter is one he relishes.

"When you're labeled as a go-to guy, that's not tough, that's an honor," he said. "It gives you plenty of opportunities to get the ball and go out there and make some plays and make something happen and help your team win some games."

Kasper's ability to provide the Hawkeyes with whatever they need be it a third-down snag or long touchdown continues to amaze his coaches and teammates.

"The guy, when we need a catch in a possession-type situation, he's there to make that catch and throughout the year he's made a couple of big plays for us, so whatever opportunity he has he makes the best of it," Erb said. "He's flying around on the field, whether it's catching passes or whether it's run-blocking. The kid loves to play the game."

But no matter how serious and how much of a perfectionist Kasper is on the field, there's another side to the wideout off the field.

Kasper revels in keeping his teammates on their toes.

"The biggest prankster on the team," tight end Kyle Trippeer said, letting out a laugh. "He's tells the most jokes, we always say that he's never told the truth in the locker room one time."

Kasper doesn't hide it he's pulled off some good stunts, and he loves to take the credit for them.

"I am a prankster and a jokester and I enjoy scaring people," he said. "One I got caught for I glued a lot of doors in my dorm and they were closed. I got caught for that. But other ones, we mess up other people's rooms.

"(Wide receiver) Kahlil Hill and I, we go into (teammates') rooms and kind of 'reorganize' it so it looks kind of better for us. You know, beds flipped over and chairs in the showers. And even though we deny it, I have a feeling everybody always knows it's us."

Trippeer said there's no doubt that everyone on the team knows Kasper is the one filling their lives with trepidation. And even though teammates may try to even the score, the ultra-competitive Kasper always manages to stay ahead.

"People have gotten him back," Trippeer said. "Somebody put a dead bird in his shoe one time and they trashed his room last week. So they've gotten him back a few times. But everybody is always looking over their shoulders. They have to check everything.

"Derrick Pickens one of our defensive lineman he was hiding in his locker last week. When Derrick opened the door, (Kasper) just scared the crap out of him."

Even if Kasper makes a living out of keeping his teammates on the lookout, they knows that he will be as dedicated as anybody on the field.

"I'm laid back in a sense, as in joking around and stuff, but when it comes down to it, I'm always 110 percent in what my goals are, whether it be in school or especially in football," Kasper said. "As soon as I put my mind to it, that's something that I need to achieve. That's basically my personality."

Ultimately, no matter what pranks he pulls, Kasper knows they can't get in the way on the gridiron. And although that dedication may curry favor with some parents, Kasper knows that proposing to any of Coach Erb's family members may not be the best career move.

"Maybe not right now because I don't know how much I'll be playing," said Kasper, choosing his words carefully. "He might sit me on the bench for a little bit if I'm not acting nice."