Twins Likely to Start For Hawks Saturday For First Time Since 1980
Only six sets of twins have been part of Iowa football in the 130-year history of the program. It's even rarer that twin brothers start in the same game. It will likely happen Saturday night when the 20th-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes open the season against Miami of Ohio.
Levi and Landan Paulsen are both listed as starters for the game on the Iowa offensive line. Landan (#68) is slated to start at left guard and his twin brother Levi (#66) at right guard. The fifth-year seniors hail from Moville, Iowa and played high school football at Woodbury Central.
The two brothers no longer look like they did in their Iowa roster photos (below). In February, they shaved their long hair and beards after raising more than $15,000 for the University of Iowa Stead Family Children's Hospital during the University of Iowa Dance Marathon. The beards have returned, but the long hair has not.
If the Paulsen twins start Saturday night's game at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City (kickoff 6:40 pm on FS1), it'll mark the first time twin brothers have started the same game for Iowa since 1980. That year, Kevin Ellis started at cornerback and his twin brother Kent Ellis was the starting strong safety.
The last twin brothers to play for Iowa were Shaun and Shane Prater in 2008.