Kid Captain makes Hawkeye Wave song selection

IOWA CITY, Iowa (KCRG) - This week’s Kid Captain has made his selection for the song to be played during the Hawkeye Wave at Kinnick on Saturday when the Hawkeyes play the Wisconsin Badgers.

The University of Iowa announced Tate Manahl, 8, of Cedar Rapids, picked “The Champion” by Carrie Underwood and Ludacris.

Five years ago, @UIchildrens Kid Captain Tate Manahl suffered life-threatening injuries in a lawn mowing accident. Now, having made nearly a full recovery, he chose "The Champion" by @carrieunderwood and @Ludacris as the song for this week's Hawkeye Wave. https://t.co/5dXlqA8VG6 pic.twitter.com/ChkfGKh52g
— University of Iowa (@uiowa) November 8, 2022

Tate was three-years-old when he suffered life-threatening injuries in a lawn mowing accident in 2017.

The University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital said Tate has had more than 30 surgeries, including procedures to preserve his legs and leg function, since the accident.

Tate is now in third grade, and enjoys playing baseball, flag football and the outdoors. See Tate’s full story here.

For the past 13 college football seasons, the hospital has partnered with the Iowa Hawkeyes to pick kid captains to honor and celebrate their inspirational stories.

The wave tradition began at Kinnick in 2017 and sees fans, athletes and coaches from both teams stop to wave at patients and their families inside the hospital.

Originally, the University of Iowa asked fans to vote for a new song to play during the wave, but it later decided to leave the choice up to the kid captains.