Rob Gronkowski (party buses and porn stars)

[WoodyWorshiper]

Love grad21's assessment of the "punk"ing, but pretty much that's what the recruiting process has become. I remember the good old days as a kid, rushing to the store the day after NLOI day to but a USA Today to see where their top prospects were going, then looking at the local newspaper to check out the Buckeyes list of recruits, knowing nothing about them, but just looking to see who the new names were going to be and what positions they played.

The internet has changed alot of this, as well as these kids being placed high on pedastals and at times being made to be way too big for their britches. I liked the days when "verbal, soft-verbal, lean, and de-committ" weren't even in my vocabulary. The recruiting process itself is extremely cool, I guess there's just too much info available to us these days (and only a small portion of it accurate).

Peace.

 

[LordJeffBuck]

Gronk just punked Clemson bad...

He sent an email last night to the Clemson Rivals site all but saying he was a Tiger.

I thought that crap like that happened only to Ohio State....

Today's recruits are a different breed - they are high profile and they know it, and they milk it for what it is worth. But with our 24/7/365 interest in recruiting, we (the fans) are the root of the problem, I guess...

 

[wadc45]

Scout $

1/10

From the Arizona site...Rob discusses his decision.

 

[craigblitz]

we (the fans) are the root of the problem, I guess...

I see your line of thinking, but a kid being a young adult should be on his way to acting like a man. Regardless of their unique god blessed (or evelotionary) gifts it is up to the parent to teach these kids how to handle situations in life.

Are we to blame somewhat.. of course we are but in MANY cases the parents are worse then the kids in setting the example on how to handle these things.

 

[OSUBucks22]

Color me shocked here... There was actually decent info out there for Clemson and/or tOSU, but Arizona didn't even get an official from him... Pretty amazing... Sounds like this was another that was playing the recruiting game as well...

 

[osugrad21]

Color me shocked here... There was actually decent info out there for Clemson and/or tOSU, but Arizona didn't even get an official from him... Pretty amazing... Sounds like this was another that was playing the recruiting game as well...

Clemson was counting him in based on his actions in the last 24 hours.

 

[OSUBucks22]

Clemson was counting him in based on his actions in the last 24 hours.

As would have I if I were them, based on Rob's actions...

 

[LordJeffBuck]

Are we to blame somewhat.. of course we are but in MANY cases the parents are worse then the kids in setting the example on how to handle these things.

Check back in this thread for examples of that....

 

[Padraig]

Well, not knowing anything about this kid or the surrounding situations, I'm not surprised by his decision not going the OSU direction.

Just thinking about the position, I think we have had too many unfortunate contributing factors over the last few years that have not helped tOSU's recruiting the TE position:

1. Louis Irrizary (sp) could have been an incredible difference-maker, and not only helped our team but future recruits to look at the Buckeye TEs in an alltogether different light. He made his beyond-poor decisions and was required to take his talents elsewhere.

2. Marcel Frost didn't light the world on fire, but was coming on very nicely toward the end of 2005, yet had his own troubles and decided to transfer instead of waiting out his suspension.

3. Rory Nicol may still make his mark at the position, but because of injury last year and some spectacular young WRs alowing JT to play 4 & 5 wide often, he hasn't had optimal opportunities to show his stuff just yet.

Unfortunately the most visibal moment in recent years related to the TE position at tOSU is a dropped TD against last year's national champs.

It's been quite a while since the days of Dudley or Sanders catching 20 yard passes down the seem over a linebacker, or even Hartsock catching 8-12 yard outs for the 2002 National Champ Ohio State Buckeyes.

To an outsider, our tight ends were very under-utilized (as pass-catchers) in an offense that was putting up 35-40 points a game this past year.

I'm sure other schools took the opportunity to make negative claims about our offense and played on the kid's visions of playing in the famed westcoast style offense, or similar TE friendly systems, which the OSU team obviously won't utilize ("just look at this past season" ), and there you have it.

Anyway, onward and upward. Good luck Mr. Gronkowski. Rory and Jake in 2007.

:osu:

 

[osugrad21]

Rumors are saying to look for this "walk-on" status to quickly become a scholarship. I'm not accusing anyone of anything here...however, you can each make up your own mind.

Link

The Bounce: Recruit's brother baseball walk-on

JOHN MOREDICH and The Associated Press
Tucson Citizen

An older brother of University of Arizona tight end prospect Rob Gronkowski wants to be a hit on the diamond.
Chris Gronkowski is hoping to regain his old swing and will try to make UA's baseball team after not playing organized baseball in nearly two years.

Continued...

 

[osugrad21]

Link

Tight end ready to make impact next year for Cats

By Ryan Finley
arizona daily star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 04.13.2007

​

PITTSBURGH ? Rob Gronkowski did not have to duck as he opened the restaurant door. But his spiky hair grazed the frame.
The UA's biggest football recruit in years is also its biggest football recruit in 2007.
At 6 feet 6 inches and 268 pounds, his imposing build and blond hair make him look a bit like Ivan Drago, the Russian boxer portrayed by Dolph Lundgren in Rocky IV.
Gronkowski, 17, credits his family for his physique. His father owns a chain of workout-equipment stores. His three older brothers made sure Rob was ready to compete ? or else.

Cont...

 

[OSUBuckeye4Life]

Post-Gazette.com

05/03

Needless to say, Barton and his staff were impressed with what they saw. Gronkowski was batting .540 through Monday.
"When you're 6-7 and can handle the bat the way he can and play third base like he can ..." Barton tailed off. "He's a baseball player. He might look like a football player, but he's a baseball player. "You can ask any coach that faced him; he's a beast. His talent is unbelievable. I'm looking to get Rob drafted." ................

 

[wadc45]

Post-Gazette NOW - High School Sports

Fight on, Woodland Hills

It was a nice 48 hours for Woodland Hills, considering this:

The Wolverines got their first win of the year on Friday night, slipping past Fox Chapel, 16-10, in a Class AAAA Big East Conference matchup.

Then, on Saturday night after working a desk shift, I made it home to see the last quarter of the University of Arizona's 48-20 victory against Washington State in which Woodland Hills product Rob Gronkowski had four receptions for 115 yards, including touchdown plays of 18 and 57 yards. On the 57-yarder, he absolutely smeared a Washington State defender, who had to be helped from the field.

Then came the capper (as I'm sure just about everyone saw) in the form of a 73-yard punt return by the Arizona Cardinals' Steve Breaston --- also a Woodland Hills grad ---- that effectively ended the Steelers' hopes yesterday.

 

[OregonBuckeye]

LJB's great "where are they now?" article illustrated how so many of our "misses" have done little to nothing in college. I don't think that applies to '07 though. It seems a lot of them had very good freshman years and have promising futures, including Rob.

ESPN - Pac-10

Ranking the Pac-10 tight ends
July 17, 2008 1:30 PM
Posted by ESPN.com's Ted Miller

AP Photo/Elaine Thompson At 6-foot-6, 260 pounds, Arizona's Rob Gronkowski is the Pac-10's top tight end. There's significant stratification among Pac-10 tight ends in 2008.

• There's the elite, All-American types in Arizona's Rob Gronkowski and Oregon's Ed Dickson.
• Then there's a lot of the lunch pail guys, such as UCLA's Logan Paulsen and Washington State's Devin Frischknecht, among others.
• Then there's the older guys who will face big challenges from touted younger players or even incoming freshmen during the preseason, such as USC's Anthony McCoy and Washington's Michael Gottlieb.

It's a near-certainty that Gronkowski and Dickson, barring injury, will replace the departed 2007 first-and second-team All-Pac-10 tight ends, USC's Fred Davis and Washington State's Jed Collins. But count on some of these guys in the middle turning in surprisingly productive seasons, particularly Frischknecht and Cameron Morrah, who will need to help out young receiving corps.
And count on the postseason list including a couple of freshmen, such USC's Blake Ayles and Washington's Kavario Middleton. ESPN.com recruiting guru Tom Luginbill called Ayles "a future NFL first-rounder" and Middleton "a beast on both sides of the ball."
Here's the ranking:

1. Rob Gronkowski, So., Arizona: Don't be surprised if this 6-foot-6, 260-pound powerhouse earns first-team All-American honors. He averaged 18.8 yards per catch last year because DBs couldn't tackle him.
2. Ed Dickson, Jr., Oregon: Dickson is basically a 240-pound receiver, and he'll line up outside plenty. With the Ducks being young at receiver, he'll eclipse last year's numbers (43 receptions for 453 yards).
3. Logan Paulsen, Sr., UCLA: The Bruins team captain hasn't put up huge numbers but he's a capable blocker and receiver who's got a chance to play on Sundays.
4. Howard Croom, Jr., Oregon State: A reliable guy. Hauled in 20 receptions for 188 yards and three TDs in 2007.
5. Cameron Morrah, Jr., California: He should emerge from Craig Stevens' shadow and become an above-average tight end.
6. Devin Frischknecht, Sr., Washington State: It kind of sneaks up on you that he caught 18 passes for 191 yards with three TDs as a backup last year.
7. Ben Ladner, Jr., Stanford: Seems to have settled in at TE after bouncing from position to position. Caught 27 passes for 198 yards in 2007.
8. Michael Gottlieb, Sr., Washington: Former walk-on will battle with redshirt freshman Chris Izbicki and true freshman Kavario Middleton for the starting job.
9. Anthony McCoy, Jr., USC: He likely will face a challenge from touted true freshman Blake Ayles.
10. Andrew Pettes, Sr., Arizona State: Who knows who will start here for the Sun Devils? They lost three TEs to graduation, one to academics and one to a transfer.

Pac-10 general, Arizona Wildcats, Rob Gronkowski, Oregon Ducks, Ed Dickson, UCLA Bruins, Logan Paulsen, Oregon State Beavers, Howard Croom, California Bears, Cameron Morrah, Washington State Cougars, Devin Frischknecht, Stanford Cardinal, Ben Ladner, Washington Huskies, Michael Gottlieb, USC Trojans, Anthony McCoy, Arizona State Sun Devils, Andrew Pettes
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[crazybuckfan40]

I really liked Rob and wished we could of found a way to get him in that class...