The Cotton residence was strictly a Hawkeye household for a long time.

Marshall Cotton and his wife Cindy Cotton have two boys: Jordan and Darian. Marshall played fullback for the University of Iowa from 1983-87, blocking for the likes of notable Hawkeyes such as Owen Gill, Ronnie Harmon, Rick Bayless and Kevin Harmon.

Jordan, the older Cotton brother, followed in his dad’s footsteps, committing to be a Hawkeye and play for the black and gold only 45 minutes north from the family’s abode in Mount Pleasant.

Darian, on the other hand, had a little more trouble deciding where to play football after high school. 

After being offered a scholarship by ISU coach Paul Rhoads, Darian committed to Iowa State.

“At first it was a Hawkeye household all the way. We were a Hawkeye family until Darian went to Iowa State, so now we’re both,” Marshall said with a laugh.

Growing up, even though his house was one seemingly of black and gold, Darian said he rooted for both Iowa State and Iowa. When it came to receiving gifts, Darian only unwrapped Hawkeye T-shirts, but he was fine with that.

“That’s how it was for a long time,” Darian said. “Everyone else in my family loves Iowa. But me, I loved both teams. I would cheer for both even when they were playing each other. Then when I found out I could get a scholarship [at Iowa State], it was awesome for me.”

Jordan, now a junior wide receiver for the Hawkeyes, has seen action in a few games in his career. Darian is working his way up the depth chart as a defensive back for Iowa State and could see the field for special teams this year.

When they were younger and growing up, they were competitive rivals, as almost every set of brothers are.

“The younger days, growing up, we didn’t like each other that much,” Darian said. “He was a mean older brother; he was really hard on me. He’d pick on me more than anybody.”

Marshall would push Darian and Jordan when they were kids, too. 

As a former football player, he taught them what it would take to make it to the next level.

“I taught them that this is what it’s all about,” Marshall said. “Division I — I’m trying to get you ready for the atmosphere and the physical parts of D-I football, so I worked with them quite a bit when they were in high school and junior high.”

Darian said Marshall would have the brothers even do workouts after they had practice with one another to better themselves even further. But that’s not to say he didn’t support them in things besides football.

“He told us, of course, if we didn’t play sports and went to college, he’d help us,” Darian said. “But he said it’d be nice if we could get a scholarship like he did and get an education for free and still play the sports we love.

“And he knew what you had to do to get there. He knows exactly what he had to do to get there.”

When they were at Mount Pleasant High School, Jordan was a senior when Darian was a sophomore. Both played in the backfield on the football team.

In his career at Mount Pleasant, Jordan racked up more than 3,000 yards on the ground and 42 touchdowns. Once Jordan graduated, Darian took over and ran for more than 1,500 yards and 17 touchdowns during his junior and senior campaigns. Both Cotton brothers were first-team All-State selections as well.

Darian said when he got into high school, that’s when he and Jordan started bonding more.

“My sophomore year in high school, he was a senior, and I was playing varsity,” Darian said. “I started running back with him; we were both in the backfield. We started hanging out more; his friends became kind of my friends. Now I can say me and him are best friends.”

Now that both are at their respective schools, Marshall and Cindy have made shirts in honor of their two boys that will read “Cy-Hawk” on them. Since the boys both don the No. 23 jersey, it will have 23 on the back with the name “Cotton” on it.

Now that they are on the opposing sides of a rivalry and too far away and busy to casually visit each other, it’d be easy to think they might drift apart a little. But that’s not the case with the Cotton brothers.

“I’m in Ames and he’s in Iowa City,” Darian said. “But any break we get, we’re always together. Even if we have a weekend off. If I’m home, he’ll come home and see me, and we talk on the phone all the time. We’re very close.”