Central Michigan University Athletics
Hall of Fame Profile: Brock Gutierrez
10/7/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
Throughout his playing career, Brock Gutierrez was rarely, if ever, the most talented player on his team.
How then was he able to carve out a 10-year professional career in the National Football League? According to one of his teammates at Central Michigan University, it was all about desire and effort.
“The best way I can describe Brock is as a throwback football player,” said Mitch Panchulla, Gutierrez’s best friend and current business partner. “He just loves the game. He would give everything that he had on the field, then somehow find a little more. For Brock, it was all about football. Even in the pros, where for some guys it’s just about a paycheck, Brock just loved to play.”
That love of the game will be recognized and rewarded this weekend, as Gutierrez is inducted into the CMU Athletic Hall of Fame. He is one of six inductees in the 2007 class, joining Leonard Drake (men’s basketball, 1974-77), Dick Kirchner (wrestling coach, 1957-64), Angie (Henderson) Montroy (volleyball, 1982-85), Bill Taylor (men’s track and field/cross country, 1982-85) and Betsy Yonkman (women’s basketball, 1983-86).
Gutierrez is the 20th member of the football program to be inducted into the CMU Athletic Hall of Fame.
Panchulla remembers Gutierrez as a hard-nosed lineman who competed as if every snap of every game was the most important play of his life.
“Our senior year we were both captains for the majority of the games,” Panchulla said. “We would talk to the team each week, and for Brock that was just as important each week. Every game for him was the most important of his whole life. He would forget about everything else he had ever done.
“Brock wears everything on his sleeve,” he added. “He is what he is. He is just a raw, get-it-done type of guy. Whether it’s socially, in business, in football or with his family, you always know exactly what you’re going to get from Brock. He is just that type of guy.”
Regardless of the intensity and effort Gutierrez displayed on the field, he was not considered to be an automatic success at the professional level. Gutierrez was an All-Mid-American Conference first team selection as a senior in 1995, but still needed a free agent tryout with the Cincinnati Bengals to have a shot at playing in the NFL. Gutierrez turned that chance into a 10-year career, spending seven seasons in Cincinnati before moving on to San Francisco, where he started 15 games at center in 2004. He played the final year of his career in Detroit in 2005. In all, Gutierrez appeared in 114 NFL games, making 23 starts.
“I’ve told Brock that I believe that the type of guy he is is the reason why he made it all those years,” Panchulla said of Gutierrez’s NFL career. “He was always able to find that extra amount of effort and energy that kept him ahead of guys who maybe had a little more talent.”
The Hall of Fame induction banquet is set for Friday, Oct. 12 at the Comfort Inn Conference Center in Mount Pleasant. A social hour begins at 6 p.m., and dinner is set for 7 p.m. Tickets for the banquet are $40 apiece and are available through the CMU Athletic Ticket Office by calling 1-888-FIRE-UP2. The six inductees will be recognized at halftime of Saturday’s football game against Army.
How then was he able to carve out a 10-year professional career in the National Football League? According to one of his teammates at Central Michigan University, it was all about desire and effort.
“The best way I can describe Brock is as a throwback football player,” said Mitch Panchulla, Gutierrez’s best friend and current business partner. “He just loves the game. He would give everything that he had on the field, then somehow find a little more. For Brock, it was all about football. Even in the pros, where for some guys it’s just about a paycheck, Brock just loved to play.”
That love of the game will be recognized and rewarded this weekend, as Gutierrez is inducted into the CMU Athletic Hall of Fame. He is one of six inductees in the 2007 class, joining Leonard Drake (men’s basketball, 1974-77), Dick Kirchner (wrestling coach, 1957-64), Angie (Henderson) Montroy (volleyball, 1982-85), Bill Taylor (men’s track and field/cross country, 1982-85) and Betsy Yonkman (women’s basketball, 1983-86).
Gutierrez is the 20th member of the football program to be inducted into the CMU Athletic Hall of Fame.
Panchulla remembers Gutierrez as a hard-nosed lineman who competed as if every snap of every game was the most important play of his life.
“Our senior year we were both captains for the majority of the games,” Panchulla said. “We would talk to the team each week, and for Brock that was just as important each week. Every game for him was the most important of his whole life. He would forget about everything else he had ever done.
“Brock wears everything on his sleeve,” he added. “He is what he is. He is just a raw, get-it-done type of guy. Whether it’s socially, in business, in football or with his family, you always know exactly what you’re going to get from Brock. He is just that type of guy.”
Regardless of the intensity and effort Gutierrez displayed on the field, he was not considered to be an automatic success at the professional level. Gutierrez was an All-Mid-American Conference first team selection as a senior in 1995, but still needed a free agent tryout with the Cincinnati Bengals to have a shot at playing in the NFL. Gutierrez turned that chance into a 10-year career, spending seven seasons in Cincinnati before moving on to San Francisco, where he started 15 games at center in 2004. He played the final year of his career in Detroit in 2005. In all, Gutierrez appeared in 114 NFL games, making 23 starts.
“I’ve told Brock that I believe that the type of guy he is is the reason why he made it all those years,” Panchulla said of Gutierrez’s NFL career. “He was always able to find that extra amount of effort and energy that kept him ahead of guys who maybe had a little more talent.”
The Hall of Fame induction banquet is set for Friday, Oct. 12 at the Comfort Inn Conference Center in Mount Pleasant. A social hour begins at 6 p.m., and dinner is set for 7 p.m. Tickets for the banquet are $40 apiece and are available through the CMU Athletic Ticket Office by calling 1-888-FIRE-UP2. The six inductees will be recognized at halftime of Saturday’s football game against Army.
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