Veteran QB Rocky Lombardi, and his mullet, lead NIU to upset win over Boston College
CHICAGO (CBS) – Northern Illinois University quarterback Rocky Lombardi began his seventh and final college season with a huge upset win over Boston College.
Lombardi posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, celebrating his "first day of 19th grade. Just to put that in perspective, I've officially been in the education system longer than some of my teammates have been alive."
Today is my first day of 19th grade. Just to put that in perspective I’ve officially been in the education system longer than some of my teammates have been alive. Happy Monday!
— Rocky Lombardi (@rocky_lombardi) August 28, 2023
CBS 2 Sports Director Marshall Harris caught up with the most experienced player in Division I.
Lombardi: "For the most part, they keep me young. I'm able to create good relationships with them. It is a little harder to connect with the freshman now than it was three, four years ago, but we're finding common ground. I think it's helping me as a leader, and it's an interesting skill to be able to pick up. That's for sure."
Harris: "You get an overtime win against a Power Five school in Boston College. What was the key to you guys pulling off this upset?"
Lombardi: "I think the key for us was just experience in close games. We have a very similar team to what we had in '21 where we had too many close games. Just to be able to have that experience and just kind of know how to win a game. When it comes down to the end, I think that's a skill, and I think we have that skill. To be able to get a big win like that without having our best day offensively, I think, is really special."
Harris: "Your game has evolved, but so has your look. Please tell me how you came to the decision to go with your particular look this season with the hair, the mustache, and everything else."
Lombardi: "I think it started off a little bit as just like a fall camp joke. A lot of people do a lot of different, funny haircuts and facial hair for fall camp just because you're basically locked in the football building for a month. But I decided to keep it rocking for Week 1 just because we had such a good fall camp. I did do a little bit of a mullet in '21. Me and my buddy, my old roommate Clint, we rocked the mullet all '21, but it didn't start off too good. So this year, I said in order to have a better year, I got to start off with a better mullet and just keep it developing from there. So we'll see how far it takes us."
Lombardi's goal was to go two-for-two with MAC championships before getting hurt last season and getting a medical redshirt.
The Huskies won the MAC in 2021. The team is poised to make another run this season.