“Unique, special and dandy,” ISU head coach Dan McCarney said, when asked to describe senior tailback Hiawatha Rutland. “Using only three words to describe [Hiawatha] is hard to do.”

Rutland, a 6-foot senior from Bradenton, Fla., led the Cyclones in rushing yards and carries last season, gaining 614 yards on 160 attempts, while playing parts of the season with an ankle injury.

“I feel healthy now,” Rutland said. “And I’m ready to have fun.”

“Hiawatha’s now back to full speed,” McCarney said. “He’s battling Mike Wagner and Stevie Hicks for that number one spot.”

Battling for position is nothing new for Rutland. He began playing football at the age of six with the older boys in his neighborhood and moved to organized football from there.

“I have three Super Bowl appearances — in the little league,” Rutland said. “We won two of them. I used to be a stand-up defensive end. I also played linebacker and running back. My high school team was okay — we won a couple district titles and played in the state championship game.”

Rutland said he ended up at Iowa State because of a complex he has — he doesn’t like to go unnoticed.

He said he doesn’t always go looking for attention, but he does like it.

“Iowa State is a phenomenal place,” Rutland said. “It’s very small and that’s one of the reasons I chose it.

“This place is small enough to be where I will get noticed, because I need attention, and Ames and Iowa State grant me attention. I love Ames, Iowa, and Iowa State University.”

Unfortunately for Rutland, all that attention can have negative repercussions, as he found out earlier this summer when he was arrested for drunken driving.

Rutland was suspended for Iowa State’s first game against Northern Iowa.

“I wasn’t on the sidelines for that game,” Rutland said. “It was hard to watch, because I wanted to be out there playing. It was my own fault.”

McCarney said that’s the only problem the coaching staff has ever had with Rutland. Since then, McCarney said, Rutland has been a model citizen.

“Hiawatha handled the suspension like a man,” McCarney said. “He accepted it and took responsibility. He’s been fabulous both on and off the field since then.”

Rutland said his most memorable moment on the field, occurred his freshman year against Baylor.

“I had a pretty cool run in that game,” Rutland said. “The team had watched “Gladiator” before hand and people used to give me a hard time, because they said I should be playing more. So at that game the whole crowd was chanting my name and a couple of my teammates were like ‘win the crowd, win your freedom.'”

Rutland’s will to win is followed by his intensity.

“I don’t joke around so much in the locker room anymore,” Rutland said. “I have expanded my role to the meeting room. When I’m in the locker room, I’m angry and I yell at everyone who walks through.”

Rutland enjoys doing inventive things to himself as well. Last year Rutland sported a flat-top haircut, but for this season he’s trying something new — a Jheri Kurl — “like the old-school rappers used to have,” he said.

Currently, Rutland’s good-natured manner has carried over to the playing field, as he’s grabbed hold of his senior leadership role.

Rutland has 132 all-purpose yards in two games, catching eight passes in last week’s loss to Iowa.

“He’s playing like you want your senior players playing like,” McCarney said. “He’s playing the best ball of his career.”

As for life outside Ames and Iowa State, Rutland is unsure of what the future will bring.

“I’m going to wing it and do whatever comes up,” Rutland said. “I’m a spontaneous guy. I probably won’t stay in Iowa, but I will go to one of the bordering states so I can be close and visit.”

So what words does Rutland use to describe himself?

“Difficult,” “rude,” “spontaneous,” “self-motivated,” “superfluous” and “magnanimous” are just a few of the words he chose.

“You will never meet anyone like me,” Rutland said.