"Very Versatile … Very Smart"

JC Tretter ’13 will be playing big time football come this fall.

To wit: one of his Green Bay Packers' teammates, Aaron Rodgers, landed a $110 million, five-year contract last week for his skills as a quarterback.

It appears unclear what position Tretter will play. Packers' offensive line coach James Campen did reveal a few thoughts about his new player, though, in a "Milwaukee Journal Sentinel" report.

"Tretter's a very versatile player, a very smart player," Campen said. "He has very good strength … A very mature kid that understands the game of football and has a lot of upside."

"Smart" is a word the sports world seems to be using a lot when referencing Tretter. Not every NFL player posts a 3.4 GPA at an Ivy League school.

Tretter morphed from a 230-pound high school quarterback into an NFL-bound lineman with a physique of more than 310 pounds, as recounted in this report.

Academics dropped to the backfield during Saturday’s draft drama.

Tretter was at home in western New York watching the draft’s fourth round on TV with his parents, sister, uncles and grandfather when his cell phone rang shortly after 1 p.m.

Green Bay was on the line.

Tretter listened, smiling at the news that benchmarked a long, tough journey of grueling workouts, five broken noses, demands for endless endurance. His career as a professional football player had begun.

His mother, in an interview, said, "I cried as soon as I saw the smile."

"He dreamed big, went for it, worked hard for it, made it and it's awesome," said Cindy Tretter.

Named after his father, Joe Tretter, and 81-year-old grandfather, Carl Tretter of Batavia, N.Y., the ILR senior is headed to Wisconsin May 9 for the Packers' "Rookie Mini Camp."