If you’re one of the growing number of football fans who have “Gronk Fatigue” well I hate to break it to you but there’s a “Grunk” out there in the Penn State Football pipeline who’s about to burst onto the gridiron scene possibly sooner than later and oh by the way he now calls Happy Valley his new home.
Of course, to be even potentially annoying you have to be able to ball out. If you can’t play the game at a high level or aren’t or weren’t an elite player nobody is going to enable your schtick and you’ll probably just wallow in a world of elite mediocrity.
Do you really think former Patriot and Buccaneer tight end Rob Gronkowski would be doing USAA Insurance or Tide laundry detergent commercials or have a seat on the overcrowded six-wide NFL pregame analyst desk if he wasn’t one of the greatest tight ends of all time?
Do you think even the lightest of needles would budge at all if Taylor Swift was dating Raiders Long snapper Jacob Bobenmoyer instead of three-time Superbowl Champion Travis Kelce?
I wrote a story about a possible QB controversy brewing in Mount Nittany that was in the works last year when Penn State starting quarterback Drew Allar struggled in the biggest games of the season.
Allar’s understudy, Beau Pribula, had a propensity to provide some instant energy and much-needed offensive pop when allowed to showcase his skills in a complementary role from time to time.
Of course that was before a basically unknown kid named Ethan Grunkemeyer showed up on the NCAA radar after his junior season at Olentangy High School in Lewis Center, Ohio.
Although only having one offer after his junior season a year ago to play at a major program (that is if you even consider The University of Miami of Ohio to be a major program) Penn State came calling in the Spring and Grunkemeyer’s meteoric rise on the hype machine began. He had an off-the-hook showing at the Under Armour Elite 11 Finals last summer in Redondo Beach and threw for 3,278 yards, 37 touchdowns with only eight interceptions during his senior season in high school.
His head coach at Olentangy, Wade Bartholomew, was glowing about his three year starter.
“Ethan is a great football player but an elite young man,” Bartholomew told reporters. “His leadership is second to none. He cares for his teammates, encourages everyone to become their best and is always striving to make the team better. As a quarterback, he is relentless in his preparation, taking game planning and practicing as seriously as the games. Ethan made a huge impact on our program in the four years he was here and will be missed.”
Ethan Grunkemeyer Offers Bright Future for Penn State Football
:55 seconds of head-turning, “good lord, he can sling it,” arm talent from Penn State Freshman QB Ethan Grunkemeyer. Enjoy! #WeAre#QBX🎯💪🌪 pic.twitter.com/DoSGVddrDz
— Brad Maendler (@BradMaendler) July 26, 2024
So, a tough loss for The Big O looks like a big win for the Nittany Lions.
Although I’m struggling with the fact that he was ranked just outside the top 100 players in the country as a senior by 247Sports. Except in talking to people and listening to analysts, including his personal quarterback coach, it just looks like a case of late-bloomerism.
Because, when you watch tape on this kid, your eyes will grow wide and your saliva glands may start pumping as his mechanics and arm talent jump off the screen.
The ball just explodes out of his right hand and just as importantly, the 6-2, 200-pound freshman has a very quick release to go along with elite decision-making ability.
Grunkemeyer also has tremendous footwork both in the pocket and on the run, always keeping his head up and eyes downfield. His propensity to take care of the football is also a huge element to his game as turnovers are the key to any quarterback’s win/loss record.
His personal quarterback coach, Brad Maendler, who also happens to be the Nits’ starting quarterback Drew Allar’s personal QB coach, and is the owner of QB Excelerate as well, defines arm talent as “the ability to put the ball where it needs to be irrespective of the environment or platform you are throwing from.”
Maendler says that Grunk has plenty of that as well as elite arm strength.
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Drew Allar, Ethan Grunkemeyer Share Strong Bond in Happy Valley
Grunkemeyer’s rapid rise in the court of public opinion feels very much like that of the aforementioned Allar’s, who was also an Ohio quarterback before joining the Penn State program.
Grunkemeyer has trained with Maendler since his sophomore year and is someone both he and Allar credit for a large portion of their development. Maendler is a revered quarterback whisperer in NCAA circles.
Grunkemeyer also said he has grown close with Allar, who made him “super confident” in his decision to join forces at the NCAA level.
Allar was also just a three-star recruit prior to his trip to th U.A. Elite 11 Finals without much initial interest from his favorite team growing up, The Ohio State Buckeyes, but did get a lot of attention from head coach James Franklin and his staff at PSU.
Like Allar, Grunkemeyer also did himself a solid by opening eyes at the Under Armour Elite 11 Finals last summer.
Grunkemeyer finished with an eye-popping Ball Score of 91.5, second to only Trevor Jackson, who will be slinging it for Florida State over the next few years. Ball Score combines a QBs average velocity (MPH) and average release time (seconds) from 12 throws made at the BreakAway station. The higher the score, the faster and quicker the ball is delivered.
Grunk also grew up a big fan of one of one of Penn State’s biggest rivals from Columbus, Ohio, but said recently that that wasn’t going to be a huge factor in where he was going to play at the next level.
“I grew up watching Ohio State,” Grunkemeyer explained at the time. “But the biggest thing for me wasn’t picking my favorite school growing up. It was picking the best school for me. And I feel like Penn State was that, just from my perspective. And from the coaches’ perspective, they showed the same interest. It’s more about fit rather than where I grew up and what I was a fan of as a kid.”
That he and Allar have shared the same personal quarterback coach did help convince Grunkemeyer that Happy Valley was the ideal choice for him, especially since his relationship with the incumbent Penn State starter predated Allar’s commitment to the Nittany Lions.
The longevity of their relationship convinced Grunkemeyer that everything Allar told him about playing for head coach James Franklin’s staff was rooted in truth rather than recruiting-pitch spin.
Grunkemeyer visited Penn State seven times before committing last Spring. The thing that stood out to Grunkemeyer was Penn State’s concerted effort to check on everything that wasn’t related to football.
“One thing that they did more than other schools was trying to connect more on a personal basis. Whether that’s Zooms or FaceTimes and trying to get me on campus as much as possible,” Grunkemeyer said. “Really just the comfort level and how they made me feel as a person.”
With Allar’s potential upside and the waft of the NFL looming on the horizon, Grunk may be the next in the quarterback pipeline at Penn State to provide continued optimism for the program to take their game to the next level.
Stay tuned.
MORE: How Penn State is Suddenly Dominating Pennsylvania Recruiting Trail
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It was at PRISM where Staszak produced live games and began his career as an on-air reporter.
After a couple of brief stints with CBS-3, WB-17 and WGAL-8 in Lancaster, PA, Staszak began a 12 year stretch at FOX 29 where he became the lead sportscaster in 2007. It was there that Staszak found himself in the middle of Philadelphia Phillies World Series Championship coverage that earned him an Emmy nomination for best sports reporter in 2008.It was one of five Emmy nominations that Staszak earned over the course of his career.
All told Staszak covered three World Series, two Stanley Cup Finals, an NBA Finals and one Super Bowl during his television run.
Staszak left the TV business for 97.5 The Fanatic in 2013, where he enjoyed eight years bloviating his beliefs on how a professional football team should be run.In 2018 when he fortunate enough to be the first sports talk host in the city, along with cohort Zach Gelb, to provide post-game coverage of the first Super Bowl Championship for the city’s beloved Philadelphia Eagles.
Staszak was also a writer for 97.5 The Fanatic along with 4 Philly Sports and now covers Penn State athletics for NittanyCentral.com.
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