USF’s Grothe Invited To Bucs Minicamp
April 26th, 2010
Undrafted in last week’s NFL draft and unsigned to any free agent contract, former South Florida quarterback Matt Grothe was invited by the Bucs to participate in the Bucs’ rookie minicamp.
If Grothe shines, he could then be signed to a free agent contract, so reports good guy Greg Auman of the St. Petersburg Times.
“I had a good workout with them — they were happy with it and so was I,” Grothe said. “Everybody that comes into these minicamps isn’t guaranteed anything. It’s time for me to go out and prove myself.”
Grothe said he had similar offers from two other NFL teams, but his first shot at the pros will come in Tampa, where he made a name for himself as USF’s starting quarterback, finishing as the Big East’s all-time career leader in total offense. Grothe has spent the last seven months returning to full strength from a season-ending knee injury he suffered in the third game of last season in September.
“I feel real good,” said Grothe, who will be in a live practice for the first time since his injury — the Bucs’ minicamp runs from Friday through Sunday.
It won’t be the first time a local quarterback product was offered such a deal. A few years ago, Chucky invited North Carolina State quarterback Jay Davis to rookie camp. Davis played his high school ball at Clearwater Central Catholic.
It’s cool the Bucs help out a local young quarterback like this. Hey, Grothe may never get paid to play quarterback again. But, like Davis did, Grothe could use the experience to start a coaching career. Davis is an offensive coordinator at Division-II Truman State College in Missouri.
April 26th, 2010 at 10:27 pm
I like Grothe. Not sure if he’ll make it in the NFL though. Good luck.
April 26th, 2010 at 10:32 pm
Good for him
April 26th, 2010 at 10:33 pm
How is he going to beat out the FA QB from Ole Miss???
Bucs won’t cut JJ either.
4 QBs… Freeman needs all the snaps he can get.
April 26th, 2010 at 10:35 pm
BTW… I like all of Tampa’s rookie FA signings (See buccaneers.com).
Ha ha, you know it’s bad when anyone we get seems to be an improvement!
April 26th, 2010 at 10:59 pm
grothe and snead….our problems are solved!! lol no seriously im glad too see the bucs give him a chance…wish him well!
April 26th, 2010 at 11:16 pm
Good luck, Grothe
April 26th, 2010 at 11:55 pm
grothe has alot of fans in the tampa bay area
snead is awful
April 26th, 2010 at 11:58 pm
I think it’s a real shame that Arron Sears was just let go today. Maybe he did have isssues and all, but I think Raheem handled this very poorly!! Give him the whole offseason to get in shape and to get his life together! Why the hell do you have to release right now? He was the missing ingredient in our offensive line last year. Our running game struggled because of that spot on the O-Line.
Bring in Alan Faneca. Yeah I know that he’s not “long term, and he’s too old.” But we currently have no one else on the roster who is capable of starting at guard. Zuttah can’t do it. Bring in Faneca as a short term fix until we can get someone in the draft next year. He can still play at a decent level and he would bring some needed veteran leadership to the team. There’s nothing wrong with “patching up” the hole if you’ve got no one else.
April 27th, 2010 at 12:38 am
there are some defensive ends that were let go today that would be an upgrade for this team and could offer leadership.. wake up Dominik your job is not over.
April 27th, 2010 at 1:40 am
Patrick, while I like your idea about Faneca, how can you blame Raheem for a situation that all of us, including you, know very little about. The Bucs have bent over backwards to accommodate Sears. The entire Bucs organization has kept a tight lip on what ever personal problems that Sears is going through. I wish him luck, but the Bucs are running a football team. I doubt you see him get picked up by another team, at least not anytime soon.
Why does everyone go looking for new reasons to find fault with Rah??
You guys really hate him…
April 27th, 2010 at 2:51 am
Honestly I would love to see Grothe make this roster. If he is as healthy as he claims he should definitely be given a chance to beat out Johnson, Snead and Carpenter. Remember this is the guy that practically carried USF in the Big East and he does hold Big East records.
April 27th, 2010 at 4:48 am
truth be told…he is really just competing with snead….one will make the roster the other wont……and unless rudy carpenter is the real deal, he is just camp fodder and is as good as gone
grothe is really just a canadian football league qb at best…and that is even a slight stretch…but its hard not to like him
adam from ny
April 27th, 2010 at 7:48 am
Grothe came from nowhere a couple of years ago and impressed all of us. He was a big part in South Florida’s #2 ranking that year too. I’m glad that he is getting a chance. Just hope his knee is healed enough to play.
April 27th, 2010 at 8:06 am
LOL Grothe sucks, and he’s only about 4 foot tall.
This is a mercy signing by the Bucs . He has no chance to make the team, and he’ll be busing tables at Chili’s come September.
April 27th, 2010 at 8:07 am
Actually , Snead , the QB we signed from Ole Miss Is MUCH better.
April 27th, 2010 at 10:18 am
This is a pretty cool move by the Bucs even though I think we can all agree that he has about zero chance of making the team.
I bet we see him in a Tuskers or Storm uniform within a year.
April 27th, 2010 at 10:50 am
He’d be perfect for Arena League , D-money
April 27th, 2010 at 11:09 am
The two QBs who got the fewest reps last preseason (both named Josh!) will need all the reps they can get this year. Both were throw to the lions last year without much support on the field via good blocking or receivers, and on the sidelines via play calling that fit their mobile styles. Hopefully the QB situation will be quickly trimmed down so the guys who are the true future can really focus on improving this year.