December 20, 2007
GROB: All about the QBs
By JAMES GROB, Courier sports editor
The conventional wisdom is that in the sport of football, it all boils down to the play of the big guys up front. But more often than not, it’s quarterback play that makes the difference.
Here in Iowa, we grow some good ones.
If you were paying attention to the NFL this past weekend, you might have noticed that that three Iowa natives got the call to start at the prestigious QB slot. Kurt Warner, from Cedar Rapids, took the helm for the Arizona Cardinals Sunday. Sage Rosenfels, from Maquoketa, called the signals for Texas last Thursday night. Kyle Orton, from Altoona, took center stage for the Bears in their prime time Monday night contest against the Vikings.
Starting NFL quarterback may be one of the most elite job positions in the world, and although their performances were mixed this past weekend, I don’t believe that any other state in the nation could claim to have three natives starting in the NFL. Someone should check me on this (I’m not sure what state the Manning brothers are officially from), but if that is indeed the case, that says a lot about the quality of football at the grassroots level in the state of Iowa. Even if that’s not the case, three NFL starters from Iowa is a meaningful event.
Throw in Eddyville-Blakesburg grad Tyler Lorenzen. Lorenzen, a former Ottumwa Courier Player of the Year, was named the most valuable player for bowl-bound UConn recently. He helped steady the Husky offense in 2007, completing 58 percent of his passes and amassing a 127 passing efficiency rating. Lorenzen and the Big East Champion Huskies finished 9-3 this regular season and will return to action on Dec. 29 — next Saturday — when they play in the Meineke Car Care Bowl at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte. Interested local fans can watch that game at noon on ESPN.
Is anyone over in the E-B school district having a party? I’ll bring the pretzels.
Then there’s Northern Iowa’s Eric Sanders, who is a native of my home town of Oelwein. I remember Eric when he was just a baby, and I remember him again when he was just a skinny high school freshman. He was a good kid.
Eric’s father, Steve, has been the head baseball coach at Oelwein High School since — well, since before I can remember. I like Steve. Sports writers always like to describe baseball coaches as “fiery skippers.” Steve fits that description better than anyone I’ve ever met. I think that’s why I like him.
He’s a good guy and a good coach. A good friend, too, who has earned the right to be proud of all of his kids.
Eric led UNI to wins over five Top 25 opponents and Iowa State, and was runner-up for the Walter Payton Award. In his UNI career, he completed 714 of 1,026 passes (69.6 percent) for 9,012 yards and 70 TDs with 23 interceptions. He also rushed for 567 yards and 13 TDs. Not bad, kid.
Eric has an outside shot at playing in the NFL, too. Iowans should be pulling for him.
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Switching sports, another good guy and good coach is William Penn men’s basketball coach John Henry. His team started the season ranked 15th, and last week the Statesmen were ranked 11th in the NAIA Division II poll. I haven’t seen the poll this week, so I don’t know exactly where they’re at right now. We don’t get that poll wired to us here at the Courier, we’ve got to hunt it down. Usually we don’t see it until Thursday afternoon, if we see it at all.
The thing about Coach Henry’s William Penn team is that it is truly representative of southeast Iowa. Players include Kyle Creamer from Ottumwa, Caleb, Clint and Joel Stout from North Mahaska and Jesse DeGeest from Twin Cedars. Penn’s JV team includes Mike Strasko from Albia and Van Buren’s Spenser Huffman.
So if you want to watch local kids doing well, head up to Oskaloosa and watch a little William Penn basketball. They’re 12-2 and they get back into action on Dec. 30, when they host William Woods. We’ll be pulling for them all season.
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Here’s hoping that all southeast Iowa sports fans enjoy happy holidays. I hope that your Christmas season is filled with good times shared with friends and family. I hope that love, charity and goodwill touch all of your hearts.