When Greg Rommel speaks, he does so humbly.

Valedictorian of his Henninger High School senior class?

‘I do a lot of work, I guess.’

Record-setting quarterback with Division I potential?

‘I played some football in high school.’

A Bioengineering major with his eye on graduate school?

‘It’s a lot of heavy lifting.’

In his words, Rommel is low key. A middle-class guy. That’s why it’s best to let those around him speak for him. The Syracuse lacrosse junior midfielder is one of the top scoring options this year for the Orange. He and his Syracuse teammates will take on Hobart tonight at 7 at McCooey Field in Geneva.

Rommel is one of the leaders on Syracuse’s 2-3 lacrosse team, even if he doesn’t like to admit it.

‘He’s been blessed,’ said his mother Janet Rommel. ‘I hope that he knows that. He’d be the last one to tell you.’

Rommel doesn’t stand out as being especially smart or athletically dominating. He’s average height – 5 feet, 11 inches – and stocky – 200 pounds. He’s unassuming, too.

He’s not especially quick for a lacrosse player, but he’s got a crank shot that will burn a hole in the net. That’s the reason why his SU teammates count on him so much.

He needs to step up now, they say. He’ll be counted on to replace Michael Powell, Brian Nee, Sean Lindsay and a number of other offensive players lost to graduation.

But Rommel is more than a lacrosse player, which is why he gives his teammates hope.

He’s a natural athlete.

Coming out of Henninger in Syracuse, he was a four-year starter at quarterback, setting New York state records in the process. He was recruited to play football in college by a gaggle of Division I-AA and Division III schools. The Ivy League schools wanted him, too. Not only for his arm, but for his book smarts. Princeton, one of the top lacrosse schools in the country, wanted him to play football and lacrosse. He also received lacrosse scholarship offers from Duke, Virginia and Georgetown.

He’s a scholar.

Valedictorian of his high school class, now Rommel’s looking to get his Ph.D. He’ll start applying for graduate school soon, maybe after the lacrosse season is over. Besides, he has little time for activities beyond lacrosse – the sports he loves more than anything else – and school.

‘He’s a sponge,’ his mother said. ‘He just kind of soaks up things.’

‘He’s either studying; here (in the Carrier Dome); or in class,’ said his roommate and SU defenseman Steve Panarelli. ‘I don’t think he eats.’

How could he have time? He’s too busy working. On road trips, like the one Syracuse took to Maryland on Feb. 19 for a scrimmage, Rommel brings his textbooks. They say Bioengineering and Human Physiology on the front. Attackman Brian Crockett can read the covers. But once he turns past the table of contents, he’s lost.

‘Some of us were checking them out,’ Crockett said. ‘Definitely way above our level. He knows how to balance his work really well. If he has an hour he’s not going to waste it.

‘Sometimes we give him a little bit of a hard time. But he’s got his goals in mind.’

Which, as a lacrosse player, makes sense. Of course, Crockett is talking about graduate school, but Rommel is just as successful on the lacrosse field. Last year he scored 13 goals and one assist, finishing eighth on the team in scoring. His freshman year, Rommel was the team’s ninth leading scorer.

He should be one of the team’s leading scorers again this year while taking on the role he filled in high school, when his teammates would just pass him the ball and not worry about the result.

‘Every time we got the ball we said, ‘We’re just going to give it to Greg and he’s going to score,” said Mike MacDonald, a teammate of Rommel’s at Henninger and a sophomore for the Orange. ‘He’d make us win. He’s always been in the leader role.’

Now that Rommel is starting for the Orange at midfielder, his impact is evident. When he attacks the cage, Rommel uses his muscular body to angle for position. He throws it around with reckless abandon.

Rommel learned his toughness from his high school days playing football. Despite his humbleness, teammates say he’s the best football player on the team.

‘He’s got a cannon for an arm,’ Crockett said.

Last year, 15 guys from the lacrosse team would meet at Thornden Park for some preseason tackle football. Rommel’s squad won every time. The last game they played he threw the game winning touchdown pass to defenseman John Wright, sending a Sean Lindsay-led team home losers.

‘He probably could have played Division I football,’ Crockett said.

‘He’s a genius, too. The smartest kid on the team.’

When Rommel hears the praise from his teammates, he gets embarrassed. Suddenly, his skin tone turns bright red, matching his fiery hair.

‘I don’t know about that,’ Rommel said with a chuckle.

But that’s to be expected. That’s just Greg Rommel being humble.

‘As a mother, I guess I can brag a little bit,’ Janet Rommel said.

‘He’s a good boy. He makes me proud.’

Published on March 27, 2005 at 12:00 pm