After sitting behind veterans for three seasons, the former walk-on has surprised his teammates during summer workouts.
Welcome back to our countdown to the 2026 Iowa football season!
Since May 28, we've been counting down the final 100 days until the Hawkeyes swarm out of the Kinnick Stadium tunnel for their season opener against Northern Illinois on Sept. 5.
Each day has primarily featured an article profiling a member of the 2026 Hawkeyes based on their jersey number, but we've been known to switch things up when Iowa doesn't issue a number that fits the respective day in our countdown.
Today marks 61 days until kickoff, so that means it's time to take a look at No. 61 - offensive lineman Cael Winter.
Get to know him here.
Bio
Hometown: Waukee, Iowa
High School: Waukee Northwest High School
Year: Redshirt junior
Height: 6-foot-3
Weight: 290 pounds
Other notable players to wear No. 61: Scott Dochterman of The Athletic listed the best Iowa players to wear each jersey number in a 2020 article, and his choice for No. 61 was former tackle Dave Croston. Dochterman wrote: "One of the top tackles in Iowa history, Croston was named the Big Ten offensive lineman of the year and a first-team All-American in 1986."
Winter's Iowa career so far
Winter's journey to Iowa City has been far from easy. During his senior year of high school, The Des Moines Register revealed that Winter battled a life-threatening case of pneumonia and blood clots in his lungs the year prior.
The article mentions that Winter's doctors told him he had "less than a 30% chance to live," but against all odds, Winter returned to the gridiron and helped Northwest go on a late-season surge to make the postseason.
He held offers from several Division II programs, but ultimately decided to stay close to home and join the Hawkeyes as a preferred walk-on. A lot of walk-ons in other programs usually don't have much of a chance to see the field, but Winter has stayed the course and worked hard to prove himself throughout his Iowa career.
Winter's teammates have noticed that strong work ethic, with Kade Pieper revealing during media availability on June 17 that Winter has been the most surprising player in the offensive line room during early summer workouts.
That won't guarantee a major role this season, but all eyes point to Winter continuing to work his way up the depth chart in 2026, with the hopes of earning a spot in the rotation in 2027.
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HawkeyeRoundtable publisher Brad Schultz has covered the Iowa Hawkeyes since 2023. To send him story ideas, scoops, or criticize his writing, reach him at [email protected]
