With chance to play, Cleveland Browns receiver Brian Robiskie has a chance to thrive: Terry Pluto
Published: Wednesday, September 08, 2010
Terry Pluto, The Plain Dealer
Cleveland -- Mark Iammarino remembers the first time he meant Brian Robiskie. "He was in eighth grade, kind of tall and skinny," said the Chagrin Falls football coach. "He didn't look like a natural athlete, just a kid who was still growing into his body."
Iammarino said Robiskie's decision to attend Chagrin Falls was motored by his mother, who loved the "New England feel" of the town. Terry Robiskie had been hired as the Browns' receivers coach, and the family was looking for a small town in which to live with a good school system.
"Cynthia [Robiskie] was very concerned about academics, and we are strong in that area," said Iammarino, who also is a guidance counselor at the school. "Terry and I talked a lot of football. But in the end, I think it was the academics that convinced them to send Brian."
In the ninth grade, Brian Robiskie played primarily on Chagrin's freshman team. He was on not one list as a hot college prospect.
"People have underestimated Brian for a long time," said Iammarino. "Things take a little time for him. He is not a super athlete. He has to work at everything, which he is willing to do."
While Robiskie became a star for the Tigers, he was playing Division IV. Chagrin Falls is a very good program, but it's not a major high school power.
"Even after he became a big time receiver for us, the major colleges mostly stayed away," said Iammarino. "He was a three-star recruit. Ohio State and Miami [Florida] were probably the two elite programs that wanted him. After that, it was Boston College, Northwestern and schools like that. He was not the guy that everyone was convinced would be a star."
But that's what Robiskie became at Ohio State.
"He's the kind of player who grows on you," said Iammarino. "He has tremendous character. He's very smart. When coach [Jim] Tressel came to the school to recruit Brian, he looked at his transcript with all these A's in honors courses, and coach Tressel said, 'You don't see many transcripts like these.' You look at all the boys in that family -- they are well-dressed and polite."
At Ohio State, Robiskie was on special teams as a freshman. He started only five games as a sophomore. By the time he graduated, he was an All-Big Ten receiver and an academic All-American. He finished No. 8 in school history with 127 catches, No. 4 with 24 for touchdowns.
"They probably won't say it, but I imagine Ohio State took Brian because he comes from a good family with his dad who is a coach -- and they figured he'd be a good kid for the program," said Iammarino. "They also knew he'd graduate, and signing him would create goodwill in the Cleveland area. But I doubt they ever dreamed he'd be that good on the field."
Which is why Iammarino says Browns fans should be patient with Robiskie.
