Grandfather Cromartie was at home this day in Bradenton, Fla. His name's Charlie. He's 82. “Still working,” he said.
You want to know how Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie got that compound name with the hyphen in it, Charlie's the man to look up. “I took care of him,” Charlie said.
This was after Charlie's son, Stanley, married Dominique's mother, making Stanley Dominique's stepfather. “His daddy still lives with me,” Charlie said. “He used to be a coach. Now he's a teacher at a high school here.”
Before his mother's marriage to Stanley Cromartie when Dominique was in high school, as Charlie remembered, Dominique had been Dominique Rodgers. With the marriage, Dominique's name became a good deal longer. It would be difficult to fit all those letters on the back of an NFL jersey, but it is going to happen. In the April 26-27 draft, Dominique, a cousin of the Chargers' Antonio Cromartie, is certain to be selected as a cornerback in the first round.
“I feel like he's going to go in the top 10,” said Yvon Morris, who works in the sports publicity office at Tennessee State, where Dominique has been a four-year starter. “What makes you think that?” Morris was asked.
“I've been seeing how scouts look at him,” she said.
Rodgers-Cromartie is not the biggest guy at 6 feet 1½ and 184 pounds, and before he showed up at the Senior Bowl and at the Indianapolis combine, there were questions concerning his toughness and, as slight as he is, whether he could hold up against the run. At the Senior Bowl and at Indianapolis, Rodgers-Cromartie put these fears to rest. He delivered smashing performances. He's smooth and fluid, with long arms, sure hands and a zest for attacking the football. He has some hops. He did a 38½-inch vertical leap at the combine. And he has 4.33 speed.
Tennessee State does not oppose the elite of college football, but scouting has become so all-encompassing that NFL teams have a full book on Rodgers-Cromartie.
In 1974, it can be remembered, a defensive lineman from the Nashville school, Ed “Too Tall” Jones, was the first player taken in the draft (by the Dallas Cowboys). Defensive end Richard Dent of the Chicago Bears also attended Tennessee State. There are no concerns about Rodgers-Cromartie, who has been invited by the NFL to be in New York when the draft commences.
One guess, and it is shared by others: that he will be the 10th athlete taken, by New Orleans.
The draft is thought of as almost bereft of useful safeties, but with a number of potentially able corners.
“One of the top two positions in the draft,” ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. termed it. “Shut-down corners? There is no such thing. But a couple of corners are going to go early. There is a lot of depth with the nickel and dime guys.”
Jerry Magee: (619) 293-1830; jerry.magee@uniontrib.com
