Raiders Have Found a Place for Big Kid to Play

Some kids always carry their addresses and phone numbers with them in case they get lost. When Raider rookie tackle Greg Skrepenak was a youngster, he carried his birth certificate.

Why was that?

Large for his age, Skrepenak needed it to prove how young he was.

“I was always the biggest kid in school--always,” said Skrepenak, who was 6 feet 4 and weighed 235 pounds when he was 14.

“I was very big, and it took a lot of my aggression away because I was always the biggest kid. I was always playing against older kids, and I didn’t know how to handle myself. I was still young in terms of mentality, and everybody took advantage of me because I didn’t know what the heck was going on. I was a kid in a man’s body with a kid’s mind.”

When Skrepenak tried to register for a youth football league, parents of other players believed he was too old to play because of his size. And even though, thanks to his birth certificate, he was able to prove his eligibility, Skrepenak wasn’t allowed to play. League officials feared he might injure the other players.

Skrepenak went home and cried.

“That was probably the biggest frustration for me in football,” Skrepenak said. “I went to practice with the C team, which was the youngest team, and I practiced my heart out, I really did, I can still remember it.

“And the first game came and they wouldn’t let me play and I cried my eyes out. It sort of put me in a shell. It was like hurting a kid for doing something he had no control over.

“I saw myself as a freak more than anything else. I used to see myself as abnormal. I used to wonder if I could find someplace where I’d be accepted.”

Skrepenak, now 6-6 and 315 pounds, has found a place where his size is an advantage--the NFL.

Projected as a first-round draft pick after an outstanding career at Michigan--he was an All-Big Ten offensive tackle--Skrepenak was the third player selected in the second round after performing poorly at Indianapolis last February in the scouting combine workouts, where college football players are evaluated. Skrepenak was able to bench press 225 pounds only 16 times in strength testing.

“I should have done more, but I’m not blaming anyone except myself, because I should have known that (a strength test) was one of the main things they judge it on,” Skrepenak said.

“But I have no regrets about it. Sure, I was disappointed not to go in the first round, but I think I went to the best organization in football, if not all of sports, so it turned out for the best.”

Skrepenak, who signed on the first day of training camp, is finding the transition to the NFL difficult.

“It’s just like going from high school to college,” Skrepenak said. “Everyone is quicker and just as big as you are. It’s been hard, but it’s a challenge and you’ve got to accept it and just do the best you can.”

Although Skrepenak played right tackle at Michigan, he is playing guard and left tackle in training camp. Left tackle is one of the most important positions in the offensive line because defenses usually put their best pass rusher on that side--the quarterback’s blind side.

“We’re putting him in there at guard so he learns the problems the guard has,” said Kim Helton, Raider offensive line coach. “Once you learn the problems inside and outside, then it helps you have a feel for it when you become a tackle.”

Raider Coach Art Shell, a Hall of Fame left tackle, said left tackle is the most difficult offensive line position to master.

“It’s very difficult for a young lineman to step in at left tackle,” Shell said. “To do it, the rest of the guys on the line must be a veteran group who can carry that guy with them.

“I’m not saying that because I was a left tackle, but left tackle is very tough because your fast rushers are lined up on that side. . . .

“It takes time. You have to learn the small techniques of feet and body control and opening up--all the little things. Guard is the same thing, but it’s easier to come in and play guard right away than it is to play tackle.”

Skrepenak agreed.

“He knows better than most because he’s been there,” Skrepenak said.

“He’s been very patient with me because he knows how long it takes to adjust to different schemes and techniques. Now I have to start showing them that I’m learning the system.”

Although it took Shell three years to become the Raiders’ starting left tackle, Skrepenak might not have to wait that long.

“He’s doing a great job,’ Helton said. “We’ve been satisfied with the guy. If Greg Skrepenak keeps coming on the way he’s coming, hopefully he’ll help us this year.”