If there's one thing that's certain after reading about Army hero Daniel Rodriguez, it's that the University of Oregon Ducks should immediately contact him for a future spot on the team. This week, Rodriguez was featured in an article by Yahoo! Sports and will be a featured story on Dan Rather Reports after he returned home from war overseas to pursue his college football dream.
Just after Rodriguez graduated from high school at age 18, his father died. Three weeks later, Rodriguez entered the Army. At age 19, he was shipped to Iraq and Afghanistan, where he was wounded in both legs with shrapnel and in the neck, along with a bullet fragment in his shoulder.
He received a Bronze Star for Valor after he ran 300 meters under heavy fire to take the place of a fallen soldier on October 3, 2009, effectively preventing 400 insurgents from breaching the perimeter of his post.
Now 24 years old, Rodriguez has been training heavily to get back onto the football field to enjoy the game that he hasn't played since high school. He made a promise to Pfc. Kevin Thomson, one of his best friends - who was killed in the Battle of Kamdesh - during his time in the Army, that he would play college football.
He is currently enrolled at Germanna Community College (Virginia) in order to take college courses in order to make the minimum grade requirements to play football at the Division 1 level. He currently has a 3.4 grade point average.
At 24 years old, and standing with a 5'8, 175 pound frame, Rodriguez knows that he faces an uphill battle to play at the highest level of college football. So, in the fall of 2011, he hired a production company to film a video in order to get exposure. With over 75,000 views on YouTube and growing rapidly, there's a good chance at least one coach will give him the opportunity that he truly deserves.
According to Yahoo! Sports, Paul Rieckhoff, the President of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, "sent a message to all 4,700 of his Facebook friends and Twitter followers: 'Here it is,' he wrote, 'your moment of hooah. Somebody, PLEASE, give this kid a scholarship.'"
So here's to the hope that an United States Army veteran gets the shot he deserves.
06:00 Wake up
06:15 Shower & shave
06:45 Chow
07:30 Strength & conditioning @ East Coast Strength and Power
09:30 Speed & agility @ Fredericksburg Field House
Noon Chow, walk the dog, & homework
13:30 Classes @ Germanna Community College
16:30 Run routes, catch 150 balls @ Smith Lake Park
18:00 Chow & study
20:00 Basement workout
22:00 Lights out
Have any thoughts of your own? You're encouraged to comment at the bottom of the article!
© 2011 Max Price - All Rights Reserved.
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