Background
Ira Vandever was born and raised on a Navajo Indian reservation in Haystack, New Mexico. His father is a diesel machanic and his mother is a special education teacher.
Ira Vandever was born and raised on a Navajo Indian reservation in Haystack, New Mexico. His father is a diesel machanic and his mother is a special education teacher.
He attended McCluer North High School in Florissant, Missouri where he was a two year starter, and also in Des Moines, Iowa where he was a four year starter.
He is the eldest of four children. At the age of 14 Vandever moved to Florissant, Missouri where in high school he excelled in four sports: football, basketball, baseball, and wrestling. Before graduation, Vandever was split between pursuing playing football or baseball in college.
After a freak accident in a baseball game that required 50+ stitches in his face, Vandever chose to play football at
As a freshman, Vandever split quarterback duties with Solon Bell.
As a sophomore he led the Bulldogs to a Pioneer Football League championship in his first year as a full-time starter. By the end of his tenure at Drake, Vandever set records in career passing yards (7,868), most Netto passing yards in a season (3,239), most passes completed in a season (205), most passes attempted in a season (361) and in a game (51), highest completion percentage in a career (548), most touchdown passes in a career (67), most touchdown passes in a season (32), most touchdown passes in a game (6), most career interceptions (35), most yards total offense in a career (9,161), a season (3,654), and a game (464), and most total offensive plays in a career (1,353) and a season (488), and a game (66).
Vandever is currently playing professional football in Germany with the Stuttgart Scorpions. He led the team to a second place finish in the German Bowl 2007.
The play is well known to the people of Stuttgart as "The Pass".
Vandever is also an avid painter, songwriter, and music producer.
