Romeus a growing phenom

Last year as a redshirt freshman, Greg Romeus didn’t get to see the limelight much.

In high… Last year as a redshirt freshman, Greg Romeus didn’t get to see the limelight much.

In high school, he didn’t even see the football field much – he only joined the team his senior year.

But now Romeus is basking in the glory of being a star defensive lineman. Last week, he contributed to Pitt’s six sacks, one with nine seconds left in the game to guarantee the Panthers their win over Syracuse.

At Coral Glades High School in Coral Springs, Fla., Romeus earned team MVP in his one and only year. His coach, Rex Nottage, remembers watching the 6-foot-6-inch athlete play basketball and wanting him on his own team.

“Basically with his size when I saw him on the basketball team I said, ‘Why in the world is this kid not playing football?'” Nottage said.

“We brought it up to him again and again and finally we convinced him to play. He outran everybody, and we said, ‘This kid’s only been playing three weeks, good gosh!’ We were such a new school, but when Greg got a scholarship to go to the University of Pittsburgh, it basically set the tone for our school.”

Romeus remembers the recruitment as well and is grateful for the unexpected turn of events.

“Definitely if you asked me at the beginning of my senior year I wouldn’t say I was playing football in college,” he laughed. “Football’s more exciting for me even though I played basketball all my life.”

Romeus said he knew he wasn’t going to play basketball in college, so he cut back his senior year to focus on football.

“Football, when you go out there you get a rush,” he said. “It’s kind of a different feeling. Football’s more of a team sport.”

Nottage also noted that Romeus was happy with the decision, and said that on and off the field Romeus is “a great kid.”

“The University of Pittsburgh not only got a great football player, they got a great student in the classroom and a great person of character. I can’t speak more of his character,” he said.

“It is definitely a family thing,” Nottage said. “I got to know him as a player, and I know his family. They’re great, caring people. They believe in how important family is.”

Romeus’ family proves this by traveling from Florida periodically to watch him play.

“They came to the first game and they’re coming to Rutgers,” Romeus said, adding that his family is originally from New Jersey. “As much as I miss Florida, I know I’m here to play football.”

While he began his defensive career as a high school senior, Romeus also played wide receiver, earning five receptions for 54 yards and one touchdown.

“Since I was taller than everybody else on the field, if we had an advantage like a defender on the other team was shorter, I’d go in,” he said. “They used me in certain situations.”

Even so, when college recruitment began, Romeus didn’t expect to be a part of it.

“Usually people get recruited their sophomore year,” he said. “The signing day was February 1, and I think I got my first offer in late December. No one was actually recruiting me until the All-Star game.

“My first offer was Akron, and it usually works out that once you get one offer other schools start noticing you.

“I’d always get letters from Pittsburgh but my coach was friends with Coach [Charlie] Partridge,” he remembers. “In mid to late January Coach Partridge actually came to my school, and I made a visit to Pitt and I loved it. I loved the fans and the atmosphere and all the coaches were really nice, and I loved it.

“I’m blessed with this opportunity because a lot of people want to play college football.”

While Romeus, like most redshirt freshmen, isn’t thinking too far into his future career, saying he wants to focus on getting a degree, and he would like to see Pitt win a bowl game this year.

“We definitely need to win now because we definitely want to go to a bowl game,” he said. “We’re practicing our hardest and everybody’s really focused.

“That’s the main goal. We’re going out there to win these last few games so we can be bowl eligible.”