Blythe and Meyer Have Strong Bond

AMES, Iowa - Todd Blythe and Bret Meyer, two native Iowans, came to Ames five years ago with the hopes and ambitions of playing for the football team at Iowa State.

They have succeeded on the field. Meyer, Iowa State's senior all-Big 12 quarterback, begins the season with a school-record 7,979 career yards of total offense. Meyer's school-record 7,348 career passing yards ranks the Atlantic, Iowa native third nationally among returning signal callers to Hawaii's Colt Brennan (9,850) and Michigan's Chad Henne (7,777). Blythe owns a school-record 26 touchdown receptions and his career average of 18.7 yards per catch leads the nation's returning receivers with at least 100 career receptions.

The most prolific passing combination in Iowa State history, the duo have become the backbone of Iowa State's football program. Their relationship on the field will come to an end after the 2007 football season. Their friendship developed as off-campus roommates will last a lifetime.

“He's my best friend up here,” Blythe said. “There's no doubt about that.”

The pair met during summer workouts before their redshirt freshman season and their fast friendship has evolved over the last five years.

“The first time we really ?clicked' was when we came to Ames the summer after we had graduated from high school,” Meyer said. “We were together the whole summer for workouts. We began hanging out, and it just started from there.”

Blythe, an Indianola native, and Meyer have been roommates since their second year on campus. While it's all business on the field, the two friends still go through those everyday roommate struggles, from paying the bills to cleaning up after one another.

However, their strong friendship is rarely bent over arguments.

“I remember our redshirt freshman year, we had gone to bed mad at each other,” Blythe said. “The next morning he was sitting in the living room and I walked out still trying to act mad and we both just started laughing.”

Off the football field, the two are normal college students. They will both graduate in December. Blythe is a liberal arts and sciences major, while Meyer is finishing up his academic requirements in communication studies. They like to sleep in, as any college student does, though their schedule doesn't normally allow it.

“I sleep in some days,” Meyer said. “But he can sleep in a lot longer than I can.”

“I definitely have no problem with that,” Blythe said. “But we normally have to work out early in the morning. If we get the chance though, I'll take advantage of it and sleep until noon.”

Blythe, the movie buff, admits that although he is somewhat lacking on his basketball skills, he is a better dunker than Meyer.

“All I can basically do is dunk and rebound,” Blythe said. “He can actually shoot and dribble. He could honestly probably have played basketball in college if he had wanted to work at it.”

“I never really thought about basketball,” Meyer admitted. “I love playing football and golfing in my free time.”

Over the years the two have spent an abundance of time together, and at times even answer for one another or finish each other's sentence. When you ask Blythe a question, Meyer answers. When you ask Meyer a question, Blythe answers. This close bond has also sprouted a special relationship amongst their families.

“Our families travel to every game together,” Meyer said. “They are really close.”

“Our moms are best friends and are basically the same person,” Blythe said. “They have the same personality.”

And as their five years of sporting the cardinal and gold come to a close, one thing is certain. Blythe and Meyer have loved Ames and learned many life lessons together.

“It's gotten to the point where Ames is really my home,” Blythe said.

“We've definitely grown a lot by playing football here,” Meyer said. “We're around teammates that come from Florida, to Texas, to California. We've learned to interact with people from all different backgrounds and have gained a greater appreciation for the smaller things in life.”

Players Mentioned

Todd Blythe

Todd Blythe

Bret Meyer

Bret Meyer

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Iowa State University Athletics