Early Life and Playing Career
Commings was born on Christmas Eve at the height of the Great Depression. He grew up in Ohio and played high school football at Youngstown's East High School. After graduating from high school in 1952, he enrolled at the University of Iowa. Commings spent his first two years at Iowa, lettering as a sophomore in 1953. That season, Coach Forest Evashevski's Hawkeyes finished the year ranked ninth in the nation in the final AP Poll.
With the Korean War raging abroad, Commings signed up with the Marine Corps, serving for two years before returning to Iowa. He played his junior season in 1956 on the offensive and defensive lines. That Iowa team won the Big Ten Conference title, and Commings started in the 1957 Rose Bowl for the Hawkeyes, helping Iowa to a 35–19 victory.
As a senior in 1957, Commings helped Iowa to a 7–1–1 record and a number six ranking in the final AP Poll. He was good friends with fellow lineman Alex Karras, who later had success as a professional athlete and actor. Though Karras won the 1957 Outland Trophy, it was Bob Commings at the end of the year that was voted as Iowa's 1957 MVP. In his three years at Iowa, Commings helped the Hawkeyes to a 21–5–1 record, and Iowa finished the year ranked in the top ten of the AP poll in each of his three years as a Hawkeye player.
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