Iowa football to honor former Hawkeye player Sash with No. 9 on helmets

On Saturday, the Iowa Hawkeyes will honor the late Tyler Sash by replacing one Hawkeye on their helmets with No. 9, the number Sash wore as a member of the football team.

Iowa plays at Iowa State at 4:45 p.m. ET on Saturday.

Sash started 37 games for the Hawkeyes from 2008-10, earning first-team All-Big Ten honors in 2009 and 2010. He was fourth all-time in interception return yardage in the Big Ten when he graduated, and his 13 picks were fifth-best in school history.

Sash, a safety who won a Super Bowl with the New York Giants, died at the age of 27. You can read reactions from the Iowa football community on twitter here.

" I want to thank our fans, everybody involved, former players, everybody that's showing support to Tyler's family and the Hawkeye family," Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said in his media session earlier this week. "And that includes many people from Iowa State, as well, fans and athletes, coaches from there who have reached out through social media, and fully appreciate and understand that they've gone through some very difficult times, as well. Their support is very much appreciated and very, very special.

[tweet https://twitter.com/HawkeyeFootball/status/642082643794759680]