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Romberg Savours Opportunity

Romberg Savours Opportunity

By Nick Wagoner -- St. Louis Rams.com

For the first couple of years, Brett Romberg spent his Sunday nights and Mondays like many other NFL players, watching football on television.

But Romberg wasn't necessarily paying much attention to the game themselves so much as what was running across the bottom of the screen.

"I used to always sit and watch the crawl on Sunday night or Monday and see who got hurt," Romberg said.

Romberg's wife, Emily, would also scan the waiver wires and injury reports to search for potential job openings for her husband, who was stuck on Jacksonville's practice squad hoping for a call to someone, anyone's active roster.

"My wife would be at work in there looking for me," Romberg said. "She'd be at work on Monday mornings and call me saying, 'This guy got hurt and this guy got hurt.' I'd say 'Baby, those are tackles, wrong position."'

After two years of waiting and hoping for his opportunity to come along, Romberg finally gave up on the practice of wishing and hoping and decided that it was time to let fate take over.

"After the first couple of years, I kind of stopped doing it," Romberg said. "I figured I'd let the chips fall where they may and if I get a call I get a call."

When Rams starter Andy McCollum suffered a torn anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligament in an early September Rams win against Denver, Romberg had no idea that it happened. Certainly, nobody expected that job to come open anytime soon considering McCollum's track record of durability and health.

Romberg didn't even find out about McCollum's injury until he got a call from the Rams the next day.

"I didn't find out anybody got hurt until I got the call the next morning and they didn't know what his MRI results might have been," Romberg said.

Romberg's long wait for a shot on an active roster finally came to an end the next day when the Rams signed him to their active roster. He spent three seasons with Jacksonville, where he bounced back and forth between the active roster and the practice squad.

Romberg spent the first 12 weeks of the 2005 season on Jacksonville's practice squad before being promoted to the active roster on Dec. 9. He was inactive for the final four games of the year and the team's playoff game against New England.

Romberg's only game experience came in 2004 when he played in one game, against Tennessee. He spent all of that season on the active roster and was active for six games.

This year, he was squeezed off the active roster and placed back on the practice squad.

"It was always back and forth," Romberg said. "It was never consistent. It came down to a numbers thing a lot of the times and then they brought in somebody else from Seattle. Certain coaches like certain people."

Fortunately for Romberg, there was at least one coach in St. Louis who liked him. Rams Offensive line coach Paul Boudreau coached Romberg in Jacksonville and was familiar with what he could bring to the table. Earlier in the offseason, the Rams brought in Cory Withrow and looked at Romberg as precautionary measures. Ultimately, Romberg's relationship with Boudreau helped land him in St. Louis.

"Brett played for Paul Boudreau down in Jacksonville," coach Scott Linehan said. "(So,) he knows our offensive line calls. His learning curve is going to be pretty quick. He already knows the line calls as opposed to going through those hours of learning the verbiage. So that helps. He played well in the preseason. He gives us some insurance there."

Romberg was an All American and won the Rimington Award as the nation's top center in his time at the University of Miami. Even with those awards in his pocket, he went undrafted coming out of college.

To this day, Romberg can't figure out why, with his college performance, he didn't get drafted. But, instead of sulking, Romberg uses that as motivation.

"I don't know," Romberg said. "Those are questions I have not had answered. Even Richie (Incognito) came in and he recognized me right away. He was at my awards ceremony when he was at Nebraska. He asked me 'What did you do? Did you kill somebody or what?' I said 'I don't know, I just do what they tell me."'

Boudreau isn't the only familiar face in St. Louis for Romberg to renew acquaintances with. A native of Windsor, Ontario, Romberg played high school football against safety Oshiomogho Atogwe.

"It's great to have a fellow Canadian on the team," Romberg said. "It's been a long time since I have played with a guy from home."