[Buckskin86]

Published: August 20, 2006 12:10 am

TIM SCHMITT: Gronkowski deserved a better fate

COMMENTARY

Niagara Gazette

If things don’t pan out in Pittsburgh, and it’s a distinct possibility they won’t, Williamsville North football star Rob Gronkowski will be stuck without a school when the season kicks off.

Too bad.

Gronkowski is as good as we grow ’em and as Jonah Bronstein’s story explained on Saturday, sources said his departure had more to do with a possible suspension than the level of competition. The tight end has gotten offers from major players throughout the country, including Ohio State, Maryland and Arizona.

But when his father, Gordon, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “There’s just not the quality of football in the state of New York that there is here,” it might have sealed his son’s playing fate.

Gronkowski faces a blitz on Monday — a Pennsylvania athletic board will decide if he’s eligible. Pennsylvania schools don’t allow transfers for athletic purposes.

If Gronkowski was facing a suspension, his best bet would have been to serve it and move on. Colleges are still frothing to get a crack at him.

But with drama comes additional baggage. Now, if Gronkowski doesn’t get in, he’ll be forced to sheepishly return. He could go back to Williamsville North, but might try to play with a Catholic school team like St. Francis.

It’s not the way a blue-chip football recruit — something that’s scarce in Western New York — should have to spend his senior season.

http://www.niagara-gazette.com/timsc...232001059.html