“Rob has these weird collections,” McGrath said of his roommate and Week 1 co-captain. “He got into like Pez and those Beanie Babies, those Ty Beanie Babies. He’s a big collector. You go into his room at home, and he’s got all this stuff all over. He gets into all these phases. Right now, it’s Jordans.”
Beanie Babies? Really?
Not exactly the kind of information a 290-pound offensive lineman wants out in the open as he’s coming into his own as a starter in the Big Ten.
“Let’s just go with Jordans,” Bruggeman pleaded, adding that he has more than 20 pairs of the retro shoes. “Let’s not even talk about the other two.”
No, Rob. Let’s do talk. How many of those adorable little stuffed Beanies are we talking?
“Lots,” Bruggeman said. “I have three sisters. I was like 12 years old. Give me a break.
“I’m embarrassed, and I’m mad at Gavin. Man, what do I have on him? I’ve got to give you something good.”
Bruggeman and McGrath have been trading barbs like this since they met as rivals in the Metro Youth Football program in Cedar Rapids. McGrath was on the Lions; Bruggeman the Saints. The Lions went unbeaten that year, something Bruggeman is reminded of to this day.
Later, they were teammates on an eighth-grade team at Franklin Middle School that went unbeaten and unscored-upon.
“I think I still have that T-shirt,” McGrath said. “I remember playing McKinley the last game, and they were down to like the 20, and I was like, ‘Guys, we can’t let them score,’ like it was the biggest deal in the world, you know, eighth-grade football. We still talk about that.”
At Washington High School, Bruggeman and McGrath were part of one the most talented graduating classes in the history of the state, teaming with four others who went on to play Division I football to lead the Warriors to a 12-1 record and a runner-up finish in Iowa’s Class 4A in 2003.
Adrian Arrington, a receiver on that Washington team, went to Michigan and now plays for the New Orleans Saints. Quarterback Warren Suess went to Ball State, where he finished his career as a free safety last fall. Defensive end Carl Protsch played safety at the Air Force Academy before blowing out his knee, and linebacker Maurice Cantrell is the starting fullback and a captain at Colorado this season.
“We had a lot of talent that happened to be in the same part of the state at the same time,” Bruggeman said. “A lot of us knew each other since we were in elementary school, too, so it was pretty cool that way.”
Despite their team’s success and countless individual accolades — both Bruggeman and McGrath earned all-state recognition — neither received much attention from recruiters. McGrath, a linebacker, got a late scholarship offer from UNI; Bruggeman had no offers but strong interest from the Naval Academy.
Lifelong Hawkeyes fans, they decided to walk on at Iowa.
“I just wanted to play,” Bruggeman said. “I thought I could play when I came here. A lot of guys maybe didn’t. I thought I could play here.”
Like it is for all walk-ons — and all freshmen, really — it was an uphill climb when Bruggeman and McGrath got on campus. They redshirted in 2004 and played sparingly in ’05 and ’06, getting in on special teams and in the tail end of blowouts.
Bruggeman, who has gained almost 60 pounds since high school, made a strong push in the spring of 2007, breaking into the two-deeps and putting himself in position to start. But three days before Iowa’s spring scrimmage, he suffered a dramatic setback when defensive end Adrian Clayborn rolled into the side of his knee during drills, tearing Bruggeman’s ACL.
When he was on the table in the training room, staring down surgery and at least six months of rehab, coach Kirk Ferentz came in and told Bruggeman he was awarding him a scholarship.
“He didn’t have to do that,” Bruggeman said. “He stuck to his word. I have the utmost respect for him.”
While Bruggeman was rehabbing last fall, McGrath didn’t see much of the field. He got in on special teams late in the year, about the same time Bruggeman returned to play in the final three games of the season.
Off the field, the finance majors both earned academic All-Big Ten honors.
Coming out of the spring, it was clear a healthy Bruggeman was going to play a major role in the Hawkeyes offense as a senior. He was listed as the No. 1 center, supplanting two-year starter and honorable mention All-Big Ten pick Rafael Eubanks.
From the outside looking in, McGrath wasn’t even on the radar. So, it was somewhat surprising when, at his preseason news conference last week, Ferentz announced Bruggeman, with zero career starts, and McGrath, with three career tackles, would join fourth-year starters and defensive mainstays Mitch King and Matt Kroul as captains for the opener against Maine.
“I think it’s a nice story,” Ferentz said, “guys out of one high school who got here the same way. We’re extremely happy to have them on our team.”
Bruggeman started and played most the game at center. McGrath played the important role of protector on the punt team and got in late at middle linebacker, where he is third on the depth chart. He recorded one stop, a tackle for a loss on the last play of the Hawkeyes' 46-3 win.
The coin toss was the highlight, though, walking to midfield together as they had in middle school and high school. Only this time it was in Kinnick Stadium with almost 70,000 fans in the stands. It was beyond any expectations they had when they walked on four years ago.
“It was one of the biggest honors I’ve ever had,” McGrath said. “It was really fun walking out there for the coin toss, representing Iowa football. I was really proud and happy to be chosen to do that.”
“Yeah, it was awesome. We’re buddies,” Bruggeman said. “It was awesome. A lot of our friends were pumped up. Our families were pumped up. It was a great experience. Hopefully there is a picture of it somewhere that we can look at for a long time. Gavin’s one of my best friends, and it was great to be out there with him.”
| BRUGGEMAN FILE | MCGRATH FILE | ||||||
| Position: Center | Position: Linebacker | ||||||
| Year: Senior | Year: Senior | ||||||
| Height: 6-foot-3 | Height: 6-foot-2 | ||||||
| Weight: 287 | Weight: 235 pounds | ||||||
| Hometown: Cedar Rapids, Iowa | Hometown: Cedar Rapids, Iowa | ||||||
| High school: Washington | High school: Washington | ||||||
| Ferentz says: “I think of him as a third-year starter because of the way he acts and the way he carries himself.” | Ferentz says: “Gavin doesn’t say much. He’s not a vocal guy, but he’s a great team guy, extremely positive.” | ||||||
| HAWKEYES HOTBEDS |
| There are 13 high schools with multiple players on Iowa's roster: |
| Bettendorf: Pat Angerer and Colin Sandeman |
| Des Moines Lincoln: Jordan Bernstine and Adam Robinson |
| Cretin Derham Hall (Minn.): Broderick Binns, Nick Murphy and Rafael Eubanks |
| Cedar Rapids Washington: Rob Bruggeman, Gavin McGrath and Paki O'Meara |
| Davenport Assumption: Joe Conklin and Kyle Steinbrecher |
| Cleveland Glenville: Lebron Daniel, Willie Lowe and Bruce Davis |
| Iowa City High: Ben Evans, James Ferentz, Josh Koeppel, Michael Sabers |
| Iowa City West: Travis Meade and Austin Postler |
| Dubuque: Taylor Herbst and Jayme Murphy |
| Humboldt: Tyler Nielson and Cody Hundertmark |
| Warrenville South (Ill.): Tony Moeaki and Dace Richardson |
| Millard North (Neb.): Seth Olsen and Jeff Tarpinian |
| Omaha Central (Neb.): Shaun and Shane Prater |
Eric Page can be contacted at (563) 383-2277 or epage@qctimes.com.
