Nov. 18, 2003
Editor's Note: This feature ran in the Nov. 15 edition of the Mizzou football gameday program.
by Scott Ward
The first thing you have to realize about offensive tackle Rob Droege is he's a big guy. At 6-6 and just over 300 pounds he's one of the biggest guys on the team, in fact.
The second thing you have to realize about Droege is he's not the best at losing himself in a crowd.
After finishing all of his interviews a couple weeks ago at the Tom Taylor building, Droege saw a break in his schedule and snuck down the hallway in search of relief from his busy Monday afternoon schedule.
"I have got to get a drink of water," he said glancing over his shoulder realizing he had been caught.
It's been that kind of year for the Tigers and that kind of career for Droege. One full of excitement, disappointment and at times completely unimaginable occurrences.
"It's been a blast," Droege says. "I couldn't have asked for much more of a college experience.
"This team has been a huge part of my life, and it's been fun and very rewarding. The people that have surrounded me and the university have been very positive."
A year after posting a solid season that accomplished just about everything but earning the right to go to a bowl, Droege has seen the Tigers take even greater steps this season in accomplishing a goal he has envisioned since coming to Missouri from St. Louis in 1999.
Now, Droege is a man in demand as one of the centerpieces in a Missouri offense that continues to turn heads around the nation.
Many have called Droege the most "NFL-ready" prospect on the Tigers squad - quite an achievement considering the athletes Coach Gary Pinkel has stockpiled on the Missouri roster. He was a Street and Smith's pre-season second-team All-American selection, and is a candidate for the Outland and Lombardi trophies, given annually to the nation's best lineman.
Playing on the professional level is usually the goal of many college football players, but the move to that next level is not foremost on Droege's mind.
"I've got a lot of things I need to improve on," he says, "and I'm looking forward to that journey. I know there are going to be a lot of things that are going to open up for me after the season is over, and that in itself is rewarding and exciting. Right now, though, I just need to keep playing hard and help the team win. The result of that will pay off on its own.
One of the top high school offensive lineman recruits in the nation, Droege had a sizeable and desirable list of prospective college football programs to choose from - namely Michigan and Tennessee - when graduating from Lindbergh High in St. Louis.
He instead chose to sign on with Mizzou to try and leave his mark on a program that seemed headed in the right direction but wasn't there yet.
"I could have gone to other programs that had played for championships and already had pretty established programs," Droege says. "But I wanted to be part of something new and not part of a team that had already been there. I wanted to be part of something special. It's taken a little longer than expected, but it couldn't be any more gratifying now after going through a couple of those rough seasons.
"It's been cool to see the changes around here."
As big as Droege's achievements have been on the field, though, his achievements in a different field might be more impressive.
He was recently named a National Scholar-Athlete by the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame - only the ninth Missouri player ever to be selected for the award, and the first since Corby Jones was selected in 1998. While the particular award might be new for Droege, academic honors are not.
He has been named to the First-Team All-Big 12 list twice, as well as the First-Team Verizon Academic All-District VII list twice.
"I come from a family of educators," he shrugs. "School has always been very important, and doing well has always been stressed.
"I try to do well in school, and that's helped me out as far as getting some recognition."
He will be honored for the award with a dinner December 9 in New York City at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, and he will receive an $18,000 post-graduate scholarship.
"I've never been to New York City before," he says, "and going to the Waldorf-Astoria is pretty exciting. That's movie theater-type stuff."
After college and whatever the future may hold for him that post-graduate scholarship stands to come in quite useful. He is currently pursuing his master's degree in Education Administration with an eye on life after professional athletics.
"I plan on getting back in education regardless," Droege said. "Education Administration is pretty nice to fall back on; I'll be an athletic director or something."
But for now, his time at Missouri and his decision to join the Tigers has been the best decision he made.
"Having Coach Pinkel come in and turn this team around and make us believe," he says. "I couldn't ask for much more of a senior year."