Mane attraction: Iowa tackle Robert Gallery isn't cutting any corners—or one strand of his shoulder-length hair—as he prepares for the NFL. Considering his impeccable credentials and the recent success rate of highly drafted offensive linemen, he is the most foolproof pick on the board

Sporting News, The, April 5, 2004 by Dennis Dillon

Mike and Mary Gallery own a 600-acre corn and soybean farm near Masonville, a town about 70 miles north of Iowa City. Masonville consists mainly of a park, a grain elevator, a Catholic church and Our Place, a restaurant/bar famous for its fish fries on Friday and Saturday nights. Mike is 6-4, Mary is 5-11. Not surprisingly, their five children grew tall and played sports. In order, there was Jay (6-4), who played Division III football; Nick (6-4), a punter who played one game with the Jets in 1998; Julie (6-3), who was a high jumper at Iowa; Robert, and John (6-2), another punter currently on Iowa's roster.

When they weren't playing or practicing sports, the kids helped on the farm. One of Robert's first jobs was to walk the fields and pick up rocks, which came up through the soil and could tear up machinery. As he grew older, he unloaded corn and soybeans from wagons and fed them through an auger up into storage bins. He also drove combines during the harvest season. But gentleman farmer is not in his plans after football.

"I think I had enough of it growing up and seeing the struggles my dad went through," he says, digging into a slice of deep-dish mushroom pizza. He is sitting in a back room at the Wig and Pen Pub, a restaurant near the Iowa campus. "Some years you do well; other years you don't make anything."

Gallery did more than play sports and work on the farm. His resume seems almost too good to be true: altar boy, senior class president in high school, academic All-Big Ten. He is a former Eagle Scout whose special project was to build a flower box shaped in a giant "M" (for Masonville) and spruce up the town park.

But one thing doesn't fit the profile. The coiffure. In high school, Gallery wore his hair "high and tight," and Mary would trim it with clippers every 10 days or so. But he hasn't had it cut in more than 2 1/2 years--"My morn used to send me $20 for a haircut, but as you can see it never made it to the barber shop," he joked at a team banquet two years ago--and he now wears his dark brown hair (he estimates it's 14 inches long) in a ponytail that hangs just below his shoulders. When he plays football, however, he lets his hair down; it flows out the back of his helmet and spills out the front over his pads.

Gallery is not a retro hippie. He wears his hair long simply because he got tired of spending money on haircuts. Plus, he thinks he looks better with it. "I've kind of got a misshaped head," he says. "I'd look weird with short hair."

Some NFL coaches--Tom Coughlin of the Giants comes to mind--might not be receptive to Gallery's long locks. But that shouldn't deter them from picking Gallery high in the draft. Nor should they be concerned about his bench press.

Gallery erases that doubt on Iowa's pro day. He lifts the 225 pounds slowly and deliberately, making sure each repetition is perfect. He doesn't stop until the count reaches 30.

TAKE THE TACKLE

Though quarterbacks are more celebrated picks, no position has a better recent record as a high pick than offensive tackle. Since 1990, teams have used 19 top 10 picks--including seven No. 1 overalls--on quarterbacks and 18 top 10 picks--Orlando Pace was the only No. 1 pick overall--on offensive tackles (not counting the Cardinals' Leonard Davis, who was drafted as a tackle in 2001 but has played mostly guard). Those 19 quarterbacks have made 17 Pro Bowl appearances combined, and six have been busts: Andre Ware. Lions. 1990: David Klingler, Bengals, 1992: Rick Mirer, Seahawks. 1993: Heath Shuler. Redskins, 1994: Ryan Leaf, Chargers. 1998. and Akili Smith, Bengals, 1999. The 18 tackles have made 44 Pro Bowl appearances, and only one (Charles McRae. Buccaneers. 1991) could be considered a washout.