Army linebacker Andrew Rodriguez always has wanted to see a game at FedEx Field. It didn’t matter that the Bishop Ireton High graduate grew up as a Dallas Cowboys fan. He wanted to be inside the Landover venue, to feel the passion of a packed house, to gaze upon the manicured field. Now Rodriguez will get his chance when he plays his final collegiate game vs. Navy on Dec. 10 at FedEx.
It doesn’t get any better that.
The 112th showdown between the academies is coming to the nation’s capital for the first time. Players and coaches from both teams came to Army-Navy Country Club on Wednesday — not far from Rodriguez’s Alexandria home — to reinvoke the passion of one of sports’ great rivalries. Rodriguez, one of the Black Knights’ three captains, needs no help knowing its importance.
He’s the son of a four-star general who played defensive end at West Point from 1972 to 1975. David Rodriguez went 1-3 against Navy. Andrew is 0-3. A lifetime of bragging rights rests on the outcome. Andrew’s sister, Amy, is also a West Point graduate. She is a medical service officer who “claims she can make me do pushups,” her younger brother says.
Military families stick together. Academy families become dynasties. David Rodriguez is in charge of the U.S. Army Forces Command after commanding the 82nd Airborne and forces in Afghanistan. Amy Rodriguez recently returned from a tour in Iraq.
Andrew Rodriguez will receive his post-academy assignment next week, but the mechanical engineering major expects to become an infantry officer. Rodriguez also will learn Tuesday whether he has won the William V. Campbell Trophy as the nation’s top football scholar-athlete.
“There’s something about growing up in the [military] environment,” Rodriguez says. “[Joining the Army] was totally my decision.”
There’s no doubting Rodriguez’s toughness. He missed last season after a weightlifting accident required two spinal operations. There was a secondary diagnosis of spinal stenosis, the same affliction that immediately ended the careers of Washington Redskins offensive tackle Chris Samuels and safety Darryl Morrison. Certainly, Rodriguez’s military career was in jeopardy.
But a lengthy rehab that included a stint at Fort Myer slowly prepared Rodriguez for his return this season. Coach Rich Ellerson, unsure whether Rodriguez could come back, first issued him a blue jersey that meant no contact. But a head-on collision with a fullback during an August scrimmage convinced Rodriguez his back problem was a thing of the past.
And now it’s time for one last goal: beating Navy. Rodriguez made 15 tackles and forced a fumble in the 2009 meeting, his only previous Navy game.
“It always seems like you’re going to have more chances, but time goes by so fast,” he says. “You hear about it all the time. Everyone’s always thinking Navy.
“I don’t think [losing nine straight to Navy is] starting to wear. It’s becoming more of a priority. We feel we’re closing the gap.”
Examiner columnist Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Read more on Twitter @Snide_Remarks or email [email protected].
