Greving finds his new field of dreams

Part two in a three-part series

After growing up in a family of Hawkeyes fans in Ames, Iowa and with a brother that played tailback at Iowa, Nate Greving knew he would join the ranks of Big 10 athletics.

"He's always liked the Hawkeyes, even as a younger kid," Nate's father, Steve Greving, said.

After four years of varsity baseball and football, Nate made the difficult decision to end his football-playing days in high school and set off to start a career with Iowa baseball as an outfielder.

"I thought about the decision for months, talked about it with my high school coaches," Greving said. "It was tough, . because I wanted to play both baseball and football, but I chose baseball coming out of high school because I just felt at the time that Iowa baseball was the right place to be."

But the future would have other plans for Greving.

An injury caused by a throw from the outfield resulted in nerve damage in his left shoulder that made his hand feel on pins and needles at times.

Not sure he could ever recover well enough to play in the outfield again, Greving was forced to consider other options to prolong his athletic career.

Penn offensive line coach Jon McLaughlin had coached Greving's brother at Iowa, and he piqued Quakers football coach Al Bagnoli's interest in the recruit, who was looking for a program.

Although Greving hadn't played football in a year, Bagnoli was impressed by his high school tape. The transfer soon became a reality.

"He gives us that nice dynamic package of a kid who can really catch the ball and a kid that can really run the ball, just like we have in [running back Joe] Sandberg," Bagnoli said.

Greving is technically a sophomore, but since he spent his year at Iowa playing baseball and not football, the running back still has freshman eligibility.

The extra time will come in handy for Greving, who must overcome a few more obstacles before seeing his first drive in a game on Franklin Field.

A re-injury of Greving's left shoulder in practice will postpone his debut with the Quakers until he fully regains feeling in his hand again.

And the sophomore's challenges don't stop there.

Sandberg's decision to stay at Penn for his extra year of eligibility makes the fifth-year senior the first option at running back.

After a few break-out runs last year, senior Kelms Amoo-Achampong is the clear successor, leaving Greving as a lower option at best.

But once Greving recovers, Bagnoli has no doubt that the sophomore could emerge to fill some big cleats.

"He's playing catch-up because of the injury, which is really difficult," Bagnoli said. "And obviously as long as Sandberg stays healthy, between him and Kelms those two are pretty good experienced guys. That being said, he certainly has the athleticism to play well."

Greving, who achieved All-State status playing high-school baseball, is even considering trying out for Penn's baseball squad as a walk-on, maybe as an infielder.

But, at least for now, football is the transfer's top priority.

"I've thought about playing baseball again. But I'm definitely trying to focus on football right now," Greving said. "Down the road I can definitely see myself playing baseball again, though."

After a year-long hiatus from football, Greving is just happy for an opportunity to playing the game he grew up with.

"It feels really good to be playing football again, it brings back a lot of good memories," he said. "Baseball's kind of a slow pace and you can joke around a lot, but football is more serious and I like that."

Although competing as a Big 10 athlete was a dream of his, Greving at least wanted an opportunity to compete again on the football field. Now it looks like he will have that chance.

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