FRISCO, Texas – Before leading Iowa to a 9-4 season and a No. 17 finish in the AP Poll, QB Mark Gronowski was a standout at South Dakota State. In fact, Gronowski is the winningest quarterback in NCAA history with 58 career victories, and at South Dakota State one of his offensive linemen was Steelers OG Mason McCormick. During an interview with Steelers Depot at the East-West Shrine Bowl, Gronowski raved about McCormick.

“Mason’s awesome. He is one of my best friends from SDSU and still one of my best friends today. Me and him still talk all the time. At SDSU, he was like an ultimate leader on our team. He was always holding people accountable, he’s as cold-blooded as they come when he’s out there ready to work, he’s working and making sure everybody’s bringing their best as well. And that’s a guy you really want on your team. That’s a guy you really want on the offensive line too, that is gonna bust his ass for the quarterback and the other guys around you.”

Gronowski won the 2023 Walter Payton Award as the top player in the FCS when the Jackrabbits went 15-0 and won the FCS national championship. Gronowski led the Jackrabbits to 29 straight wins before they fell to No. 17 Oklahoma State to open their 2024 season, one in which he was a finalist for the Walter Payton Award.

Gronowski is a threat with his arm, with 12,071 career passing yards, and also with his legs. He rushed for 16 touchdowns last season with Iowa while running for 545 yards and throwing for another 1,741.

Even though he arrived at Iowa banged up, the team finished 9-4 and won the Reliaquest Bowl. Gronowski said that this season was important for his development.

“It was a really fun year. There was a lot of games throughout the year that were really close. We ended up losing just by a low margin, one point here, one point there,” he said. “There were a lot of great players on that team, a lot of great players that I played with, I feel like it was a huge growth year for me as a quarterback.”

Despite Gronowski being new to the team, the Hawkeyes named him a captain. His “yes” mindset led to him earning the trust of his teammates.

“When you’re there and anybody asks you to go do something, I was pretty much saying yes. ‘You wanna go hang out?’ Yes. ‘You wanna go grab food?’ Yes. I was always trying to spend time with people.”

The Iowa culture included a lot of team meals, and Gronowski said that allowed players to put their phones away and learn and understand each other and their stories and where they came from.

While Gronowski might be the all-time winningest NCAA quarterback, his brother, Ryan, might be the more accomplished athlete. He won a gold medal at the Special Olympics in 2022, and Gronowski said that Ryan is his biggest supporter.

“He’s one of the loudest fans in the crowd and always loved getting a big hug from him after every single game,” Mark Gronowski said. “But growing up with him, he taught me so much about having a positive impact on other people and bringing that positive impact to everything you do, no matter what you’re doing and be genuine with it.”

Gronowski took that attitude to Iowa and now is on the path to becoming an NFL draft pick. Ahead of the draft, his attitude is what he wants to show scouts.

“My biggest thing is just getting in front of as many people as possible and just getting a chance to talk to people and show them my character, show them my leadership and the person that I am,” he said. “I don’t always have the opportunity to. I’ve had enough tape; I’ve played 68 games in college, so there’s not as much to show there. But just really getting to know people and showing people the real me.”

With the Steelers in the market as a quarterback, they could do worse than drafting the quarterback who’s won more than any other who has donned a college uniform. Gronowski credits his coaches and teammates for helping him win 58 games, but his resume speaks for itself with numerous awards and accolades. He was one of the best quarterbacks during the first day of practice at the Shrine Bowl, and if he ends up with the Steelers, it would be a cool opportunity to have his best friend in McCormick continuing to have his back, on and off the field.