Tight End

Mike Graff, movie critic for the Springfield football team, liked what he saw during film sessions leading up to Friday night's game at Marple Newtown. "We saw that their defense was very aggressive," Graff said. "On every little fake, they came flying up. " Graff flew by Marple's defenders Friday night whenever the Cougars ran play-action. The Springfield tight end caught 6 passes from Brian Romesburg for 156 yards and 3 touchdowns as the Cougars walloped the host Tigers, 49-13.

It was a few days before Christmas when Scott Donald decided that Villanova University held the keys to his future. The only problem was that the 6-foot, 7-inch, 230-pound tight end from Sun Valley could not sign a national letter of intent indicating his desire to accept the scholarship Villanova offered him until the official NCAA signing date of Feb. 10. That is the first day on which potential recruits are allowed to sign the letter of...

Derrick Robinson wants the ball. This year, the senior tight end is going to get it, Kingsway coach Tony Barchuk said. "Who wouldn't take advantage of a player's skills like Derrick?" Barchuk said. "We've thrown the ball over the years, but we've never really used the tight end as an option in many passing plays. That's going to change. " Barchuk's offensive playbook has been amended because of Robinson's playmaking abilities. Robinson's rock-solid, 6-foot-4, 215-pound frame is perfect for a high school tight end. His blocking skills are top-notch, but what sets him apart from other tight ends are his tremendous speed and his pass-catching skills.

Entering the NFL out of Rutgers, tight end L.J. Smith was not concerned with achieving stardom. He wondered how much - or little - he would be used in the Eagles' offense. "When I was coming out of college, I was kind of nervous about how I was able to fit in," he said. Now, at the end of his second season, and five days away from the Super Bowl, Smith is a starter. Smith fills in for Chad Lewis, who suffered a foot injury against the Atlanta Falcons late in the Eagles' NFC championship victory.

Holy Spirit linebacker Ethan Gambale has committed to attend Momnouth University on a football scholarship. The 6-foot-1, 220-pound senior led Holy Spirit with 145 tackles last season as the Spartans went 8-3 and won the Non-Public 2 state title. It was Holy Spirit's second state crown in a row. Gambale will join teammate Zach Fabel, a tight end, at Monmouth, a Division I program in West Long Branch, N.J., that plays at the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level in the Northeast Conference.

T.J. White, a rugged senior linebacker for West Chester Henderson, has committed to play football at Villanova. "I had a few other offers on the table," the 6-foot-2, 220-pounder said Friday. "Villanova was a great fit for me, academically and football-wise. And I think I have an opportunity play early on there. " White, a three-year starter who also played tight end for the Warriors, also had scholarship offers from Bucknell, Coastal Carolina, New Hampshire, Towson, and Western Michigan.

Colin Thompson, Archbishop Wood's standout tight end, received his honorary game jersey for the 2012 Under Armour All-America football game Tuesday in a ceremony at the Warminster school. The 6-foot-5, 255-pound senior was one of 90 players selected to play in the game. The fifth annual all-star event is scheduled for Jan. 5 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla. It will be televised on ESPN. In ESPNU's ranking of the top 150 players in the country, Thompson, ticketed for the University of Florida, is No. 84 (his Wood jersey number)

Salem High's Eric Fizur and Washington Township's Vince Carey - two outstanding football players with high grade point averages - have made college commitments, it was announced last night. Fizur, a 6-foot-6, 315-pound two-way tackle, has made an oral commitment to attend Lafayette, while Carey, a 6-1, 227-pound linebacker/tight end, has made a commitment to attend Dartmouth. Football recruits can sign binding letters of intent starting tomorrow. Ivy League schools, such as Dartmouth, do not have a signing day, but they notify students of their acceptance.

BALTIMORE - John Mackey, the rugged Hall of Fame tight end and union president who later fought for stronger health benefits of retired players and struggled with dementia, has died. He was 69. Mackey's wife notified the team about her husband's death, Baltimore Ravens spokesman Chad Steele said Thursday. No official cause was given. Mackey played for the Baltimore Colts from 1963-71 and helped the team beat the Dallas Cowboys in the 1971 Super Bowl by catching a pass from Johnny Unitas after it deflected off two other players for a 75-yard touchdown.

YOU WERE a first-magnitude wideout in high school and college and the occasion is game No. 1 of your head-coaching career. So, how many passes does your quarterback throw? Ten? Twenty? Thirty? Try none. OK, so the 2009 game was played in heavy rain. And it was muddy. On the flip side, the coach was quite familiar with one of his receivers, who would go on to semi-star that season despite his status as a sophomore. "We joke about that a little now, the no-passes thing," Richard Drayton said.