Cyclone Football A Family Affair For The Petersens

By Will Dehmel

The text from Joey Petersen to Zach Petersen didn't need to travel far.

The brothers were in the same city, after all. Both at Iowa State. Both playing football. Both defensive ends.

"When I first got here, I texted him. I was like 'I just got this playbook, I've got no idea what any of this means,'" Joey Petersen, now two years removed from his rookie season, explains.

He asked what he should look at first. What was most important… Anything to decipher the pages upon pages in front of him.

"Just being able to do that, and feel comfortable asking him that, was huge," Joey said. "Having him dumb it down for me as a small freshman coming in here was big."

But Zach, too, who graduated in 2022, had a similar leg up when he arrived at Iowa State.

The Petersens' father, Troy, was himself a Cyclone back in the early 90s. Troy, also a defensive lineman, was a two-time all-Big Eight player.

This year, the fourth Petersen enters the program. AJ Petersen, however, will play tight end for the Cyclones.

Like father, like son

In their hometown of Long Grove, Iowa, the Petersen boys each had to wait until fifth grade to play tackle football. When they reached that age, a familiar figure stepped in to coach: their dad.

"When we play flag football, you kind of get the idea of football, but you really don't understand what you're doing," Joey says. "Once you get to tackle football, that's when you finally understand technique and how to do stuff."

So it was their father that taught them real football — not the neighborhood games of 500 Dead or Alive, though Joey still recalls those fondly. "I just remember everyone tackling each other, pushing each other, trying to catch the ball," Joey says.

Petersens

From there, a love for football bloomed. Zach climbed the ranks at North Scott High School and was soon going on recruiting visits with Joey, just three years younger, as his guest. One school, of course, stood out.

"We would come to one game every few years, so that kind of sparked the interest in Iowa State," Joey says. "Because this is the only real college [we]'d ever been to and watched a game at before recruiting."

Zach made the decision to be a Cyclone, and three years later Joey made it too.

"Iowa State had always been really good to me and treated me really well," Joey said. "It just felt like another home. It was an easy decision."

Passed down a generation

As hard as it is for the father and football fanatic inside of him, Troy made it an effort to give his sons some distance once they became Cyclones.

"Once I got to college, he didn't really give me a whole lot of advice because I feel like he tried pushing it on me in high school," Joey said.

The 170 miles between Long Grove and Ames is separation in and of itself. But college is college. Mr. Petersen wants to make sure the boys learn on their own. And this they have done.

"I remember coming home after Friday night football games and he'd always have some little comment or something to do better," Joey said. "Back then, I didn't want to hear it. But now looking back at it, I kind of wish I would have paid him a little more attention, because now you're looking for any little edge to get better."

Still, Joey takes with him the lessons his father always tells him.

"The biggest thing is just to be aggressive," Joey explains. "You can't play timid, you can't play second-guessing yourself."

He also learned from watching his older brother on the field and in the film room.

"Hearing Zach talk and hearing him ask questions was a big deal in helping explain stuff," Joey said.

Now with AJ entering the program, Joey, using the tactics his father used on him, will help from afar — figuratively.

"What I've been trying to do this summer is letting him figure it out on his own a little bit, but guiding him in the ways that he needs," Joey said. "Letting him have that college experience and if he gets knocked down, helping him find the resources and helping him up."

Petersen Kids

Let the exploration begin

Three kids in a family. All three Cyclones.

Their parents make sure to never miss a game.

"Unless AJ had something going on — because he was still in high school — they were at every home game, most away games," Joey says of his parents. His mom, Andrea, also attended Iowa State.

Still, the Petersen family is committed to seeing places other than just Iowa.

"Their goal is to see every Big 12 school," Joey told me.

But Joey, indirectly, hopes his parents' sightseeing tour has to make a repeat visit.

"I want to win a Big 12 Championship. I feel like we've got a team that can do it."

If he's right, the Cyclones will travel to AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, home of the Dallas Cowboys.

They were already there in 2020 when Zach played in the Big 12 Championship game, but another visit wouldn't hurt.

Joey Petersen is a junior majoring in industrial technology. He has played in 22 games in two seasons with the Cyclones, seeing action in all 12 games last season as a defensive end.

AJ Petersen is a freshman tight end majoring in agricultural systems technology.

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