Joe knows writing.

Joe knows wrestling.

Joe knows football.

Joe knows horses.

On Saturday, when his Princeton men’s lacrosse team visits the Carrier Dome at 1 p.m. to play Syracuse, Joe Rosenbaum better know lacrosse.

Not that he doesn’t know it already. The kid had never touched a stick before his first lacrosse game in eighth grade. He’s a natural — one of those kids that’s good at everything they do, and everything they touch turns to gold.

Joe Rosenbaum’s one of those kids.

He’s one of those kids who wrestled ‘just for fun,’ and became a high school All-American. A kid who picked up creative writing a year ago and immediately won first prize in a schoolwide contest at one of the nation’s most prestigious universities.

Joe Rosenbaum is one of those kids that everyone’s jealous of but everyone loves, just because he’s one of those kids.

Bill Tierney is Princeton’s men’s lacrosse coach. He’s seen his share of exceptional student-athletes in his 15 years of coaching. But Rosenbaum, a defender, stands out.

‘Joe’s got a real sensibility about him,’ Tierney said. ‘He’s a great kid, very smart.’

Smart enough to win the prestigious Ward prize for fiction from Princeton’s creative writing department. Rosenbaum is also working on his senior thesis — an 80-page paper comparing modern writers due April 9 — while preparing for top-ranked teams such as Syracuse and Johns Hopkins. The balancing act of schoolwork and athletics seems dizzying, but the Princeton players, especially Rosenbaum, are used to the drill.

‘Not a day goes by when eight to 10 kids are late for practice because of class,’ Tierney said. ‘We’ve got 13 seniors, and everyone of them is completing their senior thesis. We know we’re not always going to be the biggest, strongest, or fastest team, so we need kids who can use their brains.’

Rosenbaum is one of those kids.

He hails from the Baltimore suburb of Lutherville, Md., where children are basically born with lacrosse sticks in their hands. But instead of gripping a titanium shaft, Rosenbaum grew up clutching a horse’s reins.

Horses enthralled Rosenbaum at a young age. When he was 7, he would scour bookstores with his father Stephen and his grandfather, always looking for the latest novel in the Black Stallion series.

He rode horses at the prestigious McDonogh School in Baltimore until he was old enough to wrestle and play football. Rosenbaum was a two-sport athlete in grade school.

His parents first saw his natural athletic prowess at age 2, when he would wrestle his brother Phil, now a PGA pro. But it wasn’t until eighth grade when he finally picked up a lacrosse stick.

‘In eighth grade, the team had nine really talented kids,’ Rosenbaum said. ‘They needed one more, so they put me out there. I played my first game before I ever played in my first practice. The whole first year, I didn’t know what I was doing.’

But he must have been doing something right. By his senior year of high school, he became an All-American. Virginia, Johns Hopkins, Princeton and Syracuse tried to land him. He looked for a school with a strong lacrosse program and a good educational setting.

To Rosenbaum’s mother, Murf, at least, the decision to go to Princeton was a no-brainer. Athletic ability can come and go, Murf said. But ‘academic achievement lasts a lifetime.’

Though Rosenbaum’s father graduated from Syracuse, Rosenbaum chose Princeton.

‘I felt at home with Coach Tierney,’ Rosenbaum said. ‘It was the way I felt on campus. Going to Princeton was something to be proud of.’

Add it to the list of Rosenbaum’s achievements. His degree, when he graduates, can go on the wall next to his Screen Actors Guild Award. Well, sort of.

Rosenbaum played an extra in the Academy Award-winning film “A Beautiful Mind.”

‘I can’t really say he did any acting,’ Murf said. ‘But they were looking for a certain type, and he is tall and thin and I guess he fit the bill.’

Rosenbaum tells a more glorious story.

In 2000, MTV and the casting crews for “A Beautiful Mind” came to Princeton. While most of his peers came in droves for a chance to be on The Real World, Rosenbaum tried out for a part in the movie.

When Rosenbaum returned later that spring from playing in the national championship, there was a message on his answering machine at school. The casting crew wanted Rosenbaum to be an extra in the film.

‘I’m only on camera for about 10 seconds,’ Rosenbaum said. ‘They gave me a lot of money, though. I’m actually eligible for the Screen Actors Guild, but I think it costs more to join than I made.’

Rosenbaum is in three scenes in the movie, including one in which he walks right by Russell Crowe.

‘I was sitting next to him in the theater, and it was such a good movie I had totally forgotten why we were there,’ Murf said. ‘All of a sudden Joey was tugging on my sleeve saying, ‘Mom, Mom, that’s me!’ ‘

His coach didn’t have the same reaction.

‘I never saw him,’ Tierney chuckled. ‘He probably thinks it’s a bigger deal than it really is.’

Rosenbaum needs to be visible for Princeton to stop Syracuse’s high-powered offense. The Tigers are 1-2 after losing the first two games of the year, at home to Johns Hopkins and Virginia.

In his final season at Princeton, Rosenbaum knows losing a few games isn’t the end of the world. Besides, he’s got options, even if he admits that his lacrosse skills are brighter than his writing skills.

‘It’s a tough call, though I’ve been playing lacrosse longer,” he said. “But if we keep losing, maybe I’ll be a better writer.”

As for Joe the lacrosse player vs. Joe the actor, he won’t touch that one.

It’s all right. Joe doesn’t have to know everything.

Published on March 19, 2003 at 12:00 pm