Jack Trice Stadium

The area where Cyclone Stadium, later Jack Trice Stadium, would be built is pictured in 1973. 

Construction for Cyclone Stadium began on Oct. 26, 1973, with the first game taking place Sept. 20, 1975, where Iowa State secured a victory over Air Force.

Cyclone Stadium was built to replace the previous field, Clyde Williams Field.

Cyclone Stadium was renamed Jack Trice Stadium in 1997. The push to rename the stadium began in 1973. The Government of the Student Body (the predecessor to the current Student Government) voted unanimously in support of this effort. 

In 1984, the football field itself was renamed to honor Trice, but GSB felt that it was not enough. They raised enough money to put up a statue in his honor in 1987. After persistence from students, faculty and community members, Cyclone Stadium was renamed in honor of Trice in 1997.

Johnny “Jack” Trice, Iowa State’s first African-American athlete, was born in 1902 in Hiram, Ohio. In 1918, his mother sent him to live with his uncle in Cleveland, where he played football at East Technical High School. 

Trice began his career at Iowa State College in 1922 when his former high school football coach accepted a coaching position there. Trice majored in animal husbandry in his time at Iowa State.

Trice married Cora Mae Starland the summer after his freshman year.

Trice’s first and last collegiate football game took place Oct. 6, 1923 against the University of Minnesota. In this match, Trice sustained a broken collarbone and was trampled by the opposing team before being taken to a Minneapolis hospital.

Trice claimed multiple times that he was okay, and was even declared fit to travel.

On Oct. 8, Trice succumbed to internal bleeding caused by his injuries in this game and died. 

Iowa State would not face Minnesota again until 1989.