O Sentinel: All about attitude for Grothe (w/free pronunciation guide)

[Brad]

All about attitude for Grothe

The USF quarterback's laid-back style has helped the Bulls break into the Top 25.

By Jeremy Fowler

Sentinel Staff Writer

August 22, 2007

TAMPA

Some coaches and scouts fall in love with a quarterback with a gun.

Matt Grothe has sixteen of them.

The USF quarterback is the proud owner of a 9 mm, a 22, a 223, a 17, a 30-06, the semi-millimeter and a pro-shot shotgun, to name a few.

All alpha males, please stand up.

In the winters, one of these guns might be pressed to Grothe's cheek while he's scanning the snow-filled woods of Northern Illinois or Ohio.

"You have to wait for hours at 5 a.m. in the tree you climbed in," said Grothe, a sophomore who also totes a bow and arrow. "It's long, but when a deer comes out, it's the coolest thing on Earth. It's just you and him."

Perhaps it's no coincidence that something like hunting has helped Grothe (pronounced Growth-ee) discover his football identity.

When USF opens the season Sept. 1 against Elon College, Grothe will carry more than pads onto the Raymond James Stadium field. He carries his relaxed, care-free attitude that includes shooting guns, driving a black Dodge truck with four-wheel drive and owning a white cowboy hat.

It's the Lakeland way, Grothe said.

"He's fearless," said Keith Demyer, who coached Grothe at Lake Gibson High School in Lakeland. "Always has been. If something goes wrong, you'll never see it in his face."

That same attitude propelled the 6-foot, 200-pound Grothe from mid-major recruit out of high school to Big East Conference Rookie of the Year in 2006.

Now he sees himself on a Fowler Avenue billboard in Tampa, playing for a team with Top 25 expectations that he must shoulder. Sports Illustrated ranked the Bulls No. 25 in their preseason polls.

The hype has Grothe unfazed. Besides, if you're not scared of antlers, why be scared of animated linemen?

"I like having a good time, and football is fun," Grothe said. "Every football game and every play, if it doesn't go right, it's like, who cares? Whatever happens, happens. Just go out there and have fun. Being out in the woods helps give me a relaxed attitude about a lot of things."

USF, starting its seventh year in Division I football, could shape up the Big East thanks to 15 returning starters under Coach Jim Leavitt.

Much of the success could hinge on Grothe's ability to handle the offense with poise, which was no problem during a freshman performance that included almost 3,200 yards of total offense in 2006.

But if Grothe has his way, the 2007 season will parallel his hunting expeditions that are all about patience and accuracy. The poise required to find a deer and fire at the right moment is hunting's equivalent to pocket presence, which Grothe's friends say he has.

Grothe already has gained YouTube fame with his ability to shrug and spin off numerous defenders moments before throwing for a first down.

"You always have to keep waiting until the right moment, that right spot, the right timing for the play to work," Grothe said. "Otherwise you'll get flustered and make the wrong decision. It's the same in hunting and football."

That's easy to say for an escape artist such as Grothe, who ran for 622 yards and nine touchdowns last season.

His quickness prompted numerous schools to recruit the former Class 4A Player of the Year as a safety, because he wasn't the prototypical 6-4 quarterback. He also didn't play for powerhouse Lakeland High School, which garners more recruiting attention for its players.

Some of those same colleges, including Big East rival Syracuse, have expressed regret for not recruiting Grothe as a quarterback, Demyer said.

"We always knew he'd be a quarterback when he was 7 years old and as comfortable in the pocket as someone who had done it for 10 years," said Grothe's father, Matt. "He just picked it up so fast as a young player. He had all the instincts."

For Leavitt, Grothe's success isn't bottled by height or speed or arm strength. He uses the word tough, but even that's too general.

It's more of an intangible quality, a gut feeling when a coach knows what separates a Tom Brady from a Ryan Leaf.

"I just like being around him," Leavitt said. "I like his demeanor. He's not into himself; he's down to earth. You get a feel for people when you talk with them, and I got a good feeling from him. You know he can win."

In October, when the Midwest begins to chill, Grothe plans to drop his football schedule for three days and retreat to Ohio for some hunting with Lakeland friends.

The Bulls play Rutgers in New Jersey on Oct. 18, a Thursday, so he'd skip out Thursday night.

How could the quarterback leave the team in the middle of Big East contention?

To work on his accuracy, of course.

It's really to clear his head, to recharge before pushing through a season in which Grothe thinks the Bulls can win the Big East.

"With whatever I do, I want to take it head on," Grothe said. "There's no reason to be afraid."

Jeremy Fowler can be reached at jfowler@orlandosentinel.com.

Link

[MikeG]

whoa-- this good article was in the Orlando Sentinel?

I am amazed

[Guest]

It wasn't written by Bia-tchi...

[BullsWinBucsWin]

A "semi-millimeter"?  ???

[BullsWinBucsWin]

Personally don't like hunting and don't really see the fairness of a man agaianst a deer when the man is hiding in a tree with a shotgun.

I'd like to see you get w/in shooting distance of a deer during deer season my friend.  The instincts and senses that deer possess far outweigh the fact that you have a gun in your hand (especially a shotgun or a bow, which have limited range).

[Velcro]

A "semi-millimeter"?  ???

That would be a tiny bullet...  .5 millimeters? 

[RSSMOOTH]

Personally don't like hunting and don't really see the fairness of a man agaianst a deer when the man is hiding in a tree with a shotgun.

Yeah I agree. Hunting for sport is one of the dumbest things on the planet. If you're gonna eat the meat, than I have no problem with it, but these **** rednecks just hunt for sport (sorry rednecks, don't mean to offend you) and don't eat it. It doesn't make sense, do you feel more like a man? You have a gun and the deer doesn't  :nope

[Brad]

Controversial topics like hunting have a natural home in the Mad Cow Lounge...I hope that didn't offend anyone.

[SRQ]

This had to be a tough read for some folk in Mickey-town.

[flipflop4900]

7 millimeter.  ok some of us go to the woods to get food and some of you go to publix.  I tell you what, do you think the steak you eat is mixed up from powder...no someone killed a cow and you eat it, well we dont just go out to the pasture and get a cow kill it and eat it...we hunt deer and hog and eat it

seems alot more challenging than walking into publix...but hey to each his own.  P.S. I buy steak from publix too  LOL!!