Former Michigan State QB Rocky Lombardi: ‘It was really good to put on the green and white one last time’

East Lansing, Mich. – Rocky Lombardi lurked around and performed as one of the most intriguing and perhaps unlikely participants ever at a Michigan State Pro Day. But also, he seemed perfectly at home.

Lombardi, who spent four seasons at Michigan State from 2017-2020 before transferring to Northern Illinois, was back on campus Wednesday for the Spartans’ annual Pro Day combine for NFL Scouts. He looked bigger, stronger and threw a better ball than when he was an underclassman at Michigan State, and wore a big smile. 

Lombardi remains in contact with many of his former Michigan State teammates, including wide receiver Tre Mosley. 

“Tre and I were doing our Pro Day prep in a similar location,” Lombardi said, “and I had discovered that most of the quarterbacks had transferred out of here. So I was like, ‘Who’s going to throw to you at Pro Day?’

“He was like, ‘I don’t know.’”

That’s when they hatched the plan of having Lombardi provide the arm for Mosley’s routes on Wednesday. Lombardi also threw to tight ends Harold Joiner and Jaylan Franklin.

“I graduated from here and I’m a Spartan alum so I figured I could come back,” Lombardi said. “We worked something out where I was able to come back and throw to him and give me a little extra exposure.”

Lombardi played in 22 games at Michigan State, including nine starts from 2018-2020. His most memorable games included a 318-yard passing performance in his starting debut, an upset of Purdue in 2018; and his 323 yards passing in a victory at Michigan during the COVID-shortened season of 2020. 

Lombardi was recruited by Mark Dantonio, and played for him for two years. He played one season for Mel Tucker. Lombardi was replaced by Payton Thorne at the end of the 2020 season, and was nosed out by Thorne during spring practice of 2021.

Lombardi transferred to Northern Illinois where he threw for 5,516 yards, 31 TDs and 11 interceptions in three seasons as a starter from 2021-23. He led NIU to two bowl games and the Mid-American Conference championship in 2021. 

“I’m happy with my decision, where I went,” Lombardi said. “I was really sad to leave this place and I’m really glad to be back. I really love East Lansing and the Spartan family and everything it’s done for me.”

Lombardi was asked if the turmoil which embroiled the program in 2023 surprised him.

“No comment,” Lombardi said.

Thorne stunningly transferred from Michigan State to Auburn after the spring of 2023. Tucker was fired in September, two games into the season, after allegations of sexual harassment. 

Michigan State struggled through the 2023 season with Noah Kim and Katin Houser at quarterback, and true freshman Sam Leavitt also seeing playing time. Kim opted out of the season after losing his starting job. Leavitt opted out after seeing action in four games, in order to preserve redshirt status. All three transferred after Jonathan Smith was hired as head coach in late November. 

Michigan State has retooled the quarterback room with rising sophomore Aidan Chiles following Smith to East Lansing from Oregon State. Michigan State also signed two high school recruits and Tommy Schuster, who was a record-setting passer as a four-year starting quarterback at North Dakota. 

With all that changeover, Mosley and the other pass catchers had no established quarterbacks to throw to them at Pro Day. 

“Tre is one of my good buddies,” said Lombardi, 25, who spent seven years at the college level. “We go back a long time.”

How far back? Well, Lombardi redshirted at Michigan State in 2017 when Brian Lewerke was just a sophomore. Lombardi served as an emergency punter for one game at Arizona State in 2018 before he ever took a snap as a Spartan quarterback.

Mosley joined the program as a true freshman in 2019. Mosley and Lombardi became starters together in the fall of 2020.

Three-and-a-half years later, Mosley and Lombardi gained clearance to work together at Michigan State Pro Day.

“When I pulled into East Lansing off the Interstate on Trowbridge Road, I was like, ‘Oh, it just feels like …’ It brings me back home because this is where I started my college career and matured so much as a person. It was a strange mixture of being back but also being home.” 

When asked if he had negative feelings toward Michigan State, Lombardi was emphatic. 

“Not at all,” he said. “I had a really good time here. Made a lot of lifelong friends. Still, a lot of my closest friends are from Michigan State. A really good experience. Coach D and that whole staff, that’s like family to me. I still talk to him. The Spartan family still runs in my blood.”

Lombardi is hoping to catch the eye of NFL scouts.

“This was a good opportunity for me to get in front of more scouts than I had at my previous pro day (at NIU),” he said. “I’m thinking NFL right now. I think I have the physical traits and the mind for it. So it just takes one team.”

Lombardi felt he threw the ball well on Wednesday.

“It was good for me because I wanted to come back,” he said, “and it was really good to put on the green and white one last time.”

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