IOWA CITY, Iowa -- As an Iowa defensive lineman from 2004 to '06, Ettore Ewen kept a low profile. But last month, Kinnick Stadium gave him a reception reserved for the greatest Hawkeye football heroes.
Twelve years after departing for a surprise opportunity in wrestling, Ewen returned to campus as WWE champion and one of the industry's most recognizable figures. His outsized character, known as Big E, was barely recognizable to those who remember a largely introverted teammate.
During a timeout in Iowa's Oct. 9 game against Penn State, Ewen emerged from the same tunnel he had run out of as a player.