LEONARDO DICAPRIO'S TIES TO IOWA GO EVEN DEEPER THAN WE THOUGHT

Yesterday's revelation of Leonardo DiCaprio's Hawkeye fandom has sent shockwaves through the Iowa community and we're still trying to process the news, frankly.  But BHGP investigators have uncovered incredible new evidence that suggests that Leo's ties to Iowa are even deeper -- and older -- than we ever imagined.

Behold, this image from "The Quick and the Dead" (1995), one of DiCaprio's earliest works.  There, hiding behind his boyish smile and his giant dome hidden underneath a bulky hat, is none other than our beloved mascot, Herky, serving as an extra in the picture.

Herky appeared again a few years later in DiCaprio's breakout role, "Titanic" (1997), again serving as a background extra.

In 2002, DiCaprio doubled down on Herky, getting him a cameo role as a flight attendant in "Catch Me If You Can" --

-- and also another background extra role as a member of Bill the Butcher's gang in "Gangs of New York."  Herky and Daniel Day-Lewis, sharing the screen together!

Herky got his biggest role yet in "The Departed" (2006), playing a bar patron that gets beat up by DiCaprio's character, undercover cop William Costigan.

Herky didn't appear in DiCaprio's next big critical and commercial smash, "Inception" (2010), but DiCaprio was still able to allow notoriously meticulous director Christopher Nolan to let him sneak in an Iowa football helmet as a prop.

Finally, Herky once again appeared in one of DiCaprio's most recent films, "The Wolf of Wall Street" (2013), appearing as a background extra during a boisterous Jordan Belfort speech.

So what is the source of all this Iowa love from DiCaprio?  Where does it all come from?  We're still not entirely sure, but our investigators think it might have something to do with a certain co-star he had back in his "Growing Pains" (1991-92) days.

We'll continue to investigate this story.

Big ups to hawk6894 for his invaluable assistance with this post. Thanks!