Sport: Football
Born: January 6, 1966
Town: Mahwah, New Jersey
Robert A. Kratch was born January 6, 1966 in Brooklyn and moved to northern Bergen County with his family when he was boy. Bob’s size and quickness made him an ideal offensive lineman. His only issue was his eyesight. Throughout his prep career, he wore glasses during games. Playing for Ed Caporale at Mahwah High School, Bob demonstrated the full range of blocking skills that put him at the top of multiple recruiting lists. He also excelled as a long-snapper.
Though short on experienced seniors in 1982, the Thunderbirds made an unexpected run to sectional finals in Bob’s junior year. By his senior season, Bob stood 6’4” and tipped the scales at nearly 250 pounds. Caporale anointed Bob co-captain and he was named to the 1983 first-team all-county team. Bob also competed for the school track team, winning multiple meets in the discus and shot put.
Bob was pursued aggressively by several top programs, and met with coaches at Notre Dame, Penn State, Nebraska, Tennessee, Syracuse, UNC and Boston College. The University of Iowa stood out as the best landing spot and he became a mainstay of the Hawkeyes’ offensive line. Coach Hayden Fry had infused a lackluster program with a winning spirit in the early 1980s and his staff—including Kirk Ferentz and Bernie Wyatt—impressed Bob.
After red-shirting as a freshman in 1984, Bob worked his way into the lineup in 1985. His first start was actually the epic October match-up between the #1 Hawkeyes and #2 Michigan. Iowa pulled out a 12–10 victory on a fourth-quarter field goal, setting off a wild celebration at Kinnick Stadium.
Iowa was a Top 20 team from 1985 to 1987. Bob was named a co-captain as a senior in 1988. Unfortunately, a pair of early season losses and three ties in Big 10 play ruined any hopes of remaining high in the rankings. By that time, however, Bob had become one of the nation’s top pass-protecting guards, earning first-team All-Big 10 in honors ’88.
Bill Parcells grabbed Bob for the New York Giants in the third round of the 1989 NFL Draft. Two of Bob’s teammates—receiver Marv Cook and linebacker Joe Mott—also went in the third round. The Giants needed a younger player to replace Billy Ard, who had left the club via free agency following the 1988 season.
Despite nursing a fractured thumb, Bob made multiple starts at right guard in his rookie year. In his second season, he plugged a hole created by an injury to Jumbo Elliott and was a key part of the Giants’ 20–19 Super Bowl victory over the Buffalo Bills.
Parcells left the team after that game and Bob played under Ray Handley and then Dan Reeves in the years that followed.
In 1994, Bob signed a free-agent deal with the New England Patriots. Nine other teams made him offers, but he couldn’t resist the chance to reunite with Parcells, who was now running the Pats. Bob rewarded him by being named to the all-conference team at left guard in ’94—creating a superb block tandem with All-Pro tackle Bruce Armstrong. The Patriots went from 5–11 to 10–6 that year.
Bob switched to right guard in 1995 in what would be his final season as a full-time starter. The Pats backslid to 6–10, but the arrival of rookie Curtis Martin and the continued development of Drew Bledsoe, Ben Coates and Willie McGinest had the fans at Foxboro rightfully upbeat heading into 1996. Bob started a handful of games for New England in ’96 and was delighted to be part of a successful playoff run with his old coach. His final game as a pro was Super Bowl XXXI. The Pats fell to Green Bay, 35–21.
Following his retirement, Bob got into the furniture business in Minneapolis and ran it successfully for more than a decade before cashing out. As is often the case with former football players, Bob maintained his voracious appetite long after his NFL days, but with far less exercise and a slowing metabolism. There was nowhere for his body to put all those calories. He was headed toward 400 pounds and a slew of health issues as he approached his 50s.
Bob decided to embrace a healthier lifestyle and cut junk food out of his diet. Over the next few years, he got his weight down to 245 pounds, about what he weighed in high school, and credited his success to the use of nootropics—so much so that he began selling the natural products himself.