Catching onto a new role

Terrapin football coach Ralph Friedgen always viewed Dan Gronkowski as a tight end, but back in 2004, Friedgen decided to let the 6-foot-6 quarterback recruit figure it out for himself.

After coming into preseason camp that year roughly seventh on the quarterback depth chart, Gronkowski, who then weighed 235 pounds, quickly realized he'd be better served finding a new way onto the field.

"I was doing pretty good," Gronkowski said. "I know I had a big [spring intrasquad] game. I was eight-for-nine [passing] and led us to three touchdowns. But that was before the blitzes came. Then it's a whole new world out there."

Gronkowski, who graduated from high school in 2003 but did not enroll at the university until the 2004 spring semester, switched to tight end two-thirds of the way through preseason camp. He redshirted that season and focused on bulking up.

The last three seasons, Gronkowski, who increased his weight to nearly 270 pounds, contributed mainly as a blocking tight end.

After being overshadowed during his Terp career by more accomplished receiving tight ends such as current NFL players Vernon Davis and Joey Haynos, Gronkowski has slimmed down and more than doubled his number of career catches this season. The New York native has 13 receptions for 134 yards and two touchdowns in six games, despite being hampered by a sprained right ankle suffered on the last day of preseason camp.

Although he endured one of the worst games of his career, losing a fumble and committing a holding penalty in the Terps' 31-0 loss at Virginia on Saturday, Gronkowski has emerged as one of quarterback Chris Turner's favorite targets this season.

"I guess all you need is really one year, and you can do a lot of damage out there," Gronkowski said. "This is my year, I guess. I've been waiting and preparing for it, and I'm getting my chance."

Gronkowski focused on gaining weight early in his tight end career. He realized to get playing time alongside a player like Davis, he'd have to specialize in blocking.

Gronkowski, who registered the second-highest strength index during spring testing, gained a reputation as a reliable blocker in the Terp offense the last three seasons. He set a career high with seven receptions for 66 yards last season as he shared starting duties with Haynos and split time with Jason Goode.

But this offseason, with Haynos and Goode headed for NFL training camps, Gronkowski devoted himself to becoming a more complete player. He focused on a strict diet heavy on chicken and rice, started running extra and did yoga to improve his flexibility.

By the end of the summer, Gronkowski was down to 255 pounds and "felt like I could run forever."

"If I could get his work ethic, I'd go a long way," said redshirt freshman tight end Lansford Watson, who has emerged as a complement to Gronkowski. "That guy eats properly, don't do nothing stupid and takes care of his body."

Gronkowski has also stepped up as the leader for a young group of tight ends.

Tight ends coach Danny Pearman, who stepped in when Ray Rychleski left for South Carolina last winter, said Gronkowski has set an example for the younger players to follow, working hard and jumping to the front of every drill despite his ailing ankle.

"It's been real beneficial to have a proven guy with a good attitude and work ethic already in place," Pearman said.

It's part of a new role for Gronkowski that extends to his place in the offense. In offensive coordinator James Franklin's new scheme, he has found a new role in becoming a sure-handed outlet for Turner, who has noticed the improvements in Gronkowski's route running and ability to get open.

"Dan's always kind of been a specimen," Turner said. "He looks like Leonidas (ancient king of Sparta, featured in the movie 300). He can run. He has a pretty good shot at the next level in my mind."

But before he can try to take his game to the NFL like the other recent Terp tight ends, Gronkowski, who graduated with a marketing degree in three years and will finish his MBA in the spring, wants to continue to get better.

Franklin said he'd like to get Gronkowski more involved in the vertical passing game like he was during spring practice. Friedgen said the weight loss and injury have affected Gronkowski's blocking ability, but he's made up for it with his receiving skills.

"It's about speed," Pearman said. "If it's hurt him a little at the point of attack, it's also helped him as far as being in shape and being able to go a higher number of plays than last year."

Gronkowski would also like to keep producing so he can maintain football credibility with the rest of his family.

Two of his younger brothers play at Arizona. His brother, Rob, is the reigning national John Mackey tight end of the week and has five touchdowns in two games this season for the Wildcats after missing the first three games of the season with mononucleosis. Chris Gronkowski, who transferred from this university before last football season after two years with the Terps, scored a touchdown as an H-back for the Wildcats earlier this season.

And his other younger brother, Glenn, has found the end zone as a receiver for Gronkowski's alma mater, Williamsville North High School in Amherst, N.Y.

Thanks to his hard work and dedication to the Terp program, Gronkowski has been able to keep up in his elite pass-catching family. But he knows if he had stuck with his initial career path, he could still be tossing touchdowns instead of catching them.

Even if Friedgen saw his true potential all along.

"Dan just didn't know it until I told him he had to throw that 20-yard out," Friedgen said. "Then he started seeing it, too."

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