Donor Spotlight: Tom Grobbel

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Ties that bind, lifelong memories and making something of oneself.

That was Tom Grobbel's experience as a student-athlete at Central Michigan, and it's what he values today and seeks to pass along as a benefactor to the Chippewa football program. Grobbel is a charter member of the 1100 Club, and a significant contributor to the Chippewa Champions Center, the transformational facility which is now under construction inside Kelly/Shorts Stadium.

"I want to give the young men the same benefits that I had," said Grobbel, a defensive lineman on the Chippewa football team from 1977-80. "I was no star by any means. I was a good team player and that's really what we were all about. Everybody did their job, that was the No. 1 rule in playing football – do your job."

It certainly worked for Grobbel and his teammates who played during a tremendously successful period led by two of the giants in CMU athletics lore, coaches Roy Kramer and Herb Deromedi.

Grobbel played as a freshman for Kramer in 1977 and then under Deromedi for his final seasons. In 1979, Grobbel's junior season, the Chippewas won their first Mid-American Conference football championship. They repeated in 1980. In Grobbel's four years, the Chippewas went a combined 38-5-1, including 30-2-1 in MAC games.

"It was a wonderful time to be there and play there," Grobbel said. "The seniors mentored you in the tradition of winning. You expected, every game when you walked on the field, to win. There was a selflessness of everybody who was out there. Not letting your teammates down was the big thing."

The foundational bonds that Grobbel forged with his CMU teammates are as strong in 2020 as they were some four decades ago.

"The friendships you make through football, your teammates, coaches, etc., those are lifelong," said Grobbel, who addressed the 2017 team as the honorary captain at the 2017 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. "I said, 'These are the guys that you're going to invite to your wedding; these are the guys that are going to be your pall bearers when you die; these are the guys who are going to be godparents to your kids. These are your lifelong teammates, your friends; you're bonded forever with them."

Grobbel earned a Bachelor of Science degree with a major in public health education and began his work career in the construction business. He transitioned to the financial services industry, building a highly successful three-decade career.

He said the importance that Kramer, Deromedi and others in the program and the athletics department placed on academics was central to his development and that of his teammates.

"You're going to college for a reason," he said. "You're not just going to play football and not everybody's going to make the pros. You're going for a degree and that shined very bright.

"It really transformed my life; Herb transformed my life and Roy did too. They pointed me in the proper direction."

The transformational power of college education is a message that permeates Central Michigan University and its athletics program. The fact that CMU provided the opportunity to receive that education doesn't go unnoticed by the likes of Grobbel and his contemporaries, former student-athletes who continually give back.

"It's like what (President) Robert Davies says," Grobbel said. "You're an athlete, but you're a student here first. Our goal is to have you graduate with a diploma and a championship ring and I ended up graduating with two championship rings."

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