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Health questions haunt Gronkowski
By Kevin Acee, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 12:02 a.m.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/apr/13/health-questions-haunt-gronkowski-nfl/
/ Getty Images
Tight end Rob Gronkowski, carrying the ball in 2008, has unquestioned talent but faces questions about his back after missing the 2009 season.
Rob Gronkowski is one of this year’s draft enigmas, and his fate will therefore be one of the intriguing stories to follow late in the first or sometime during the second night of the draft.
Reports have some teams passing on or at least downgrading the University of Arizona tight end’s extraordinary talent and potential because of concerns about his health.
Gronkowski, after all, did miss the Wildcats’ 2009 season following back surgery to shave off a disk that was sticking out and onto his spinal cord. It’s not nearly as invasive a surgery as it sounds, but the recovery takes half a year, and Gronkowski was not ready to perform at the NFL Scouting Combine in February.
He showed impressively March 27 at Arizona’s Pro Day, but that followed two days of multiple reports that Gronkowski suffers from stenosis. (His agent denies the reports.)
In the lead-up to the draft, even the whisper of health issues can cause a player to fall. Or not. Gronkowski is still expected to be the second tight end selected, after Oklahoma’s Jermaine Gresham, who also missed ’09 because of a knee injury.
Stenosis, a narrowing of the spine that can cause numbness and leave a person prone to paralysis, is the same condition that caused Chargers left tackle Marcus McNeill to fall to the second round in 2006. McNeill went to the Pro Bowl in his first two seasons and has started 62 games. And while he was slowed in 2008 by a neck injury and had surgery last offseason, he has said it was unrelated to his stenosis.
This is the same type of injury I think that Michael Irvin had which cut his career short. One of my buddies is real high on this TE, but the surgery and diagnosis kinda scares me.
Gronkowski, who scored 10 touchdowns among his 47 receptions in 2008, not surprisingly is giving himself a clean bill of health.
“It’s 100 percent now,” he said at the Combine. “No pain. I’ve never felt this great in a while … I’ve been cleared by many doctors. There really are no issues about my back any more.”
(This is the third in a series of stories about the best players at every position leading up to the NFL draft on April 22.)
TOP TIGHT END PROSPECTS
Jermaine Gresham, Oklahoma | 6-5, 261: Considered a likely first-round pick last year, Gresham returned for his senior season and tore ligaments in his knee. There have been questions, but he is expected to go late in the first round.
Rob Gronkowski, Arizona | 6-6, 258: The Patriots (at No. 22) and Ravens (at No. 25) need tight ends. If he doesn’t go there, Gronkowski could fall well into the second. But his talent is too intriguing to have him slip too far.
Jimmy Graham, Miami| 6-6, 260: Not the college basketball player nor high school football player that Antonio Gates was, but Graham continues to shoot up the draft boards and could go before Gronkowski.
Dorin Dickerson, Pittsburgh| 6-2, 226: Has been compared to Chargers receiver Legedu Naanee. Has a nose for the end zone. A likely third-rounder but possibly moving up.
CHARGERS COULD SELECT
Tony Moeaki, Iowa | 6-3, 245: Injuries kept him from being everything he was expected to be in college, but he is a solid blocker who can catch, too. Could be a good investment in the fourth round for a team looking for a No. 2 or 3.
Garrett Graham, Wisconsin | 6-3, 243: Could be exactly what the Chargers are looking for in the middle rounds, as he can line up at H-back and block as well as catch.
By Kevin Acee, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 12:02 a.m.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/apr/13/health-questions-haunt-gronkowski-nfl/
/ Getty Images
Tight end Rob Gronkowski, carrying the ball in 2008, has unquestioned talent but faces questions about his back after missing the 2009 season.
Rob Gronkowski is one of this year’s draft enigmas, and his fate will therefore be one of the intriguing stories to follow late in the first or sometime during the second night of the draft.
Reports have some teams passing on or at least downgrading the University of Arizona tight end’s extraordinary talent and potential because of concerns about his health.
Gronkowski, after all, did miss the Wildcats’ 2009 season following back surgery to shave off a disk that was sticking out and onto his spinal cord. It’s not nearly as invasive a surgery as it sounds, but the recovery takes half a year, and Gronkowski was not ready to perform at the NFL Scouting Combine in February.
He showed impressively March 27 at Arizona’s Pro Day, but that followed two days of multiple reports that Gronkowski suffers from stenosis. (His agent denies the reports.)
In the lead-up to the draft, even the whisper of health issues can cause a player to fall. Or not. Gronkowski is still expected to be the second tight end selected, after Oklahoma’s Jermaine Gresham, who also missed ’09 because of a knee injury.
Stenosis, a narrowing of the spine that can cause numbness and leave a person prone to paralysis, is the same condition that caused Chargers left tackle Marcus McNeill to fall to the second round in 2006. McNeill went to the Pro Bowl in his first two seasons and has started 62 games. And while he was slowed in 2008 by a neck injury and had surgery last offseason, he has said it was unrelated to his stenosis.
This is the same type of injury I think that Michael Irvin had which cut his career short. One of my buddies is real high on this TE, but the surgery and diagnosis kinda scares me.
Gronkowski, who scored 10 touchdowns among his 47 receptions in 2008, not surprisingly is giving himself a clean bill of health.
“It’s 100 percent now,” he said at the Combine. “No pain. I’ve never felt this great in a while … I’ve been cleared by many doctors. There really are no issues about my back any more.”
(This is the third in a series of stories about the best players at every position leading up to the NFL draft on April 22.)
TOP TIGHT END PROSPECTS
Jermaine Gresham, Oklahoma | 6-5, 261: Considered a likely first-round pick last year, Gresham returned for his senior season and tore ligaments in his knee. There have been questions, but he is expected to go late in the first round.
Rob Gronkowski, Arizona | 6-6, 258: The Patriots (at No. 22) and Ravens (at No. 25) need tight ends. If he doesn’t go there, Gronkowski could fall well into the second. But his talent is too intriguing to have him slip too far.
Jimmy Graham, Miami| 6-6, 260: Not the college basketball player nor high school football player that Antonio Gates was, but Graham continues to shoot up the draft boards and could go before Gronkowski.
Dorin Dickerson, Pittsburgh| 6-2, 226: Has been compared to Chargers receiver Legedu Naanee. Has a nose for the end zone. A likely third-rounder but possibly moving up.
CHARGERS COULD SELECT
Tony Moeaki, Iowa | 6-3, 245: Injuries kept him from being everything he was expected to be in college, but he is a solid blocker who can catch, too. Could be a good investment in the fourth round for a team looking for a No. 2 or 3.
Garrett Graham, Wisconsin | 6-3, 243: Could be exactly what the Chargers are looking for in the middle rounds, as he can line up at H-back and block as well as catch.
DAL @ GB
