PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – The look is unforgettable. But there is belief the play is pretty remarkable as well with an outside chance Iowa offensive lineman Gennings Dunker can compete for a starting guard job after being the Steelers third-round Friday.
It’s hard not to start with the look, a glorious red-headed mullet that flows like the three rivers running through Pittsburgh. Dunker admits the hairstyle usually causes a lot of staring from onlookers.
So how did it start?
“Yeah, so I kind of copied my guard Connor Colby who plays for the Niners right now, so I kind of did a little case study on him and I saw his progression through the years when we grew it out together,” Dunker said on a conference call with Pittsburgh reporters. “Then he got drafted by the Niners, not this Draft but
the Draft before that, and I was like, you know, maybe it's kind of a secret, so I figured I'd keep it with him.”
It’s not the only thing unique with him. Dunker is from Lena, Illinois a small town where he grew up bailing hay. That skill allowed him to win a hay bale throwing contest in Iowa which impressed Steelers offensive line coach James Campen, who is a self-described country boy.
“I’ve done the hay bale toss,” Campen said. “I was not a champion. I mean, it’s hip flexion. It’s like doing a power clean, and you’ve got to correlate everything with your knees all the way up to your upper body. And when you’re a hay bale champion, you’re always punching. So he’s getting pass blocking reps.”
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Campen went on to describe Dunker as a big, powerful kid that has not only has position flexibility between guard and tackle, but leadership skills. He saw Dunker at the Senior Bowl and noticed a guy that was always first in line and willing to accept challenges. For example, even though he was primarily a tackle, he would jump right into the guard drills.
“You know, at Iowa our tackles play like guards, so the biggest difference is kind of things happen faster, like the point of contact happens a little bit faster at guard compared to tackle,” Dunker said. “But it wasn't a huge transition just because of how we play at Iowa. I also played guard my freshman year.”
“He's an aggressive kid,” Campen said. “His focus and intent is really capturing. It projects onto the field as well. Just a very serious person. I think also the fact that he so seamlessly went into guard at the Senior Bowl really made it very appealing. There's not a lot of big people like that that can pull and match the strength that he has.”
Dunker said he’s plays fast and aggressive and enjoys running and hitting. Good traits for an offensive lineman.
Even thought with the hair and an outgoing personality, you might think it’s all about him, actually how he spent draft night tells a different story.
“My hometown is 2,600 people, so I had an open community event, so basically everyone from the town could come out because I wanted to have everyone from my hometown enjoy it just because so many people raised me and helped me out
to become who I am,” Dunker said. “I didn't just want it to be about Gennings Dunker. I wanted it to be about my hometown, so that's what I did.”
The look is unforgettable. Let’s see how the play matches at the NFL level.
LISTEN to Steelers 3rd round pick out of Iowa on his hair and game
LISTEN to Steelers 3rd round pick out of Iowa on his hair and game
