Gone Baby Gone: Can You Take Dan Heiar to a Place with Golden Streets?

It's moving day in Iowa City, apparently, as the dismissals are now coming in pairs: Dan Heiar, JUCO offensive line prospect from last year's class, is leaving the University of Iowa:

"Offensive Lineman Dan Heiar will finish the fall semester and has decided to leave school to pursue other interests. Our coaching staff and players wish Marcus and Dan the very best."

Heiar was a good story last summer: A graduate of Goose Lake High School in eastern Iowa, he was completely ignored as a college football prospect (he was no better than second-team all-State in Iowa class 1A). Heiar went to Iowa Western for a year and suddenly, strangely, became dominant. He was one of the top 25 JUCO players in the country according to the services, and had offers from the likes of Michigan State, Minnesota, Rutgers, and Utah. Iowa offered in November 2010, and Heiar (a lifetime Hawkeyes fan) accepted relatively quickly. There were Marshal Yanda comparisons. Oh, were there Marshal Yanda comparisons.

Heiar made it through part of spring practice, and then he crashed his truck on Interstate 80 in the middle of the night on April 10. It took paramedics an hour to remove him from the truck, and once they'd peeled the truck open like a can, they found more cans inside. Heiar reportedly remembered nothing from the accident, and his injuries were severe enough to keep him off the team this season. In July, he was cited for DUI in connection with the accident, and today's news became inevitable.

There's no word yet on where Heiar might be going, but it's apparently going to happen in a couple of weeks. He left after just one year at IWCC, so we assume he still has some JUCO eligibility. Regardless of where he ends up, we wish him the best.