Speaker 1: Jesus, What's good?
Speaker 2: Command of Sammy Bride Cole with JUNI here and this
Speaker 2: is the Next Man Up Podcast, who we sit with
Speaker 2: your favorite Commanders players and don't talk so much extra noes.
Speaker 1: We talk about the man behind the help man.
Speaker 2: Our next man Up is no other than our running back,
Speaker 2: our rookie Chris Rodriguez. Chris talks about having peached State Pride,
Speaker 2: how where it is to make it, from where he's from,
Speaker 2: looking up to now teammate Antonio Gibson as a kid,
Speaker 2: and how losing his mother impacted his life. Very very
Speaker 2: great thoughtful conversation with this young man. And it all
Speaker 2: starts right now. What's good Commander Sammy? I and Bride
Speaker 2: Cole with Jun and this is the Next Man Up
Speaker 2: Podcast where we sit with your favorite Commanders players and
Speaker 2: don't talk so much extra notes. We talk about the
Speaker 2: player behind the mask. And this next man Up is
Speaker 2: no other than our sixth round fick Chris Rodriguez, all
Speaker 2: running back out of Kentucky.
Speaker 1: Brother, how you doing, I'm doing good?
Speaker 3: How about you?
Speaker 1: Oh man, I'm blessed. Man.
Speaker 2: I appreciate you, like always tell the rookies man, I
Speaker 2: know like these first seasons are crazy for you guys,
Speaker 2: very regimented, so I appreciate you taking the time to
Speaker 2: kick it with it, Yes, sir man. So you know,
Speaker 2: we're gonna talk a little more about football later, but
Speaker 2: we like to start at the beginning.
Speaker 1: Talk about a little b where you're from. Man out
Speaker 1: in Georgia.
Speaker 3: Yeah, So I was originally born in Clayton County. Yeah,
Speaker 3: and then you know, when I was in fifth grade,
Speaker 3: I think I moved or I did move to McDonald, Georgia,
Speaker 3: where I went to Ola High School.
Speaker 1: Uh.
Speaker 3: When I got to seventh grade, that's when you can
Speaker 3: start playing like, you know, real organized school sports. That
Speaker 3: when I started playing. And uh, at first, I grew
Speaker 3: up playing center, so I wasn't really you know, running
Speaker 3: back or whatever. But my godfather, you know, I still
Speaker 3: I was younger, so I could still play like reg
Speaker 3: league football. So my godfather put me at fullback because
Speaker 3: he was like, you're not a blog you know, we're
Speaker 3: just gonna put you at full And then my my
Speaker 3: older brother he played center. So then when I got
Speaker 3: to seventh grade, when I started playing, uh, they were like,
Speaker 3: you know, we're gonna put you at fullback.
Speaker 1: Uh.
Speaker 3: So then I started playing fullback a little bit. Pretty
Speaker 3: much did that throughout middle school, got to high school.
Speaker 3: I didn't take I didn't know like the ins and
Speaker 3: out of footballs, Like, I didn't know you had to go
Speaker 3: to summer workouts to make varsity, right, right, So I
Speaker 3: didn't go to summer workouts my freshman year, and then
Speaker 3: I ended up qualifying for varsity, but they didn't put
Speaker 3: me on varsity. My head coach is like, nah, we're
Speaker 3: not doing that. So and then I was on JV
Speaker 3: pretty much that whole year, and then one game they
Speaker 3: bumped me up because when the running backs got hurt
Speaker 3: and the first play I got in, I took it
Speaker 3: like seventy yards to coach took me out. I was like,
Speaker 3: you're not playing anymore. I didn't play the rest of
Speaker 3: the season on varsity, played JV, and then uh, and
Speaker 3: then yeah, that's pretty much you know, McDonalds for me.
Speaker 3: I mean, you know, when I was growing up, it
Speaker 3: was me, Mo, sister, grandma, grandparents, It was a lot
Speaker 3: of us in the house. You know, we kind of
Speaker 3: grew up as a tight family. And then when we
Speaker 3: got older, like some people moved out, but pretty much
Speaker 3: it was it was all of us in the.
Speaker 2: House, did the coach explain why he took you out
Speaker 2: like that? He didn't want you to take anybody else's job, So.
Speaker 3: He told me after after the season, he was just
Speaker 3: pretty much like, yo, like you didn't come to summer workouts.
Speaker 3: You know, you're in the doghouse. So that next year,
Speaker 3: you know, he sat down, he had a talk with me.
Speaker 3: It was like, you know, you can you can do
Speaker 3: big things, but I'm not gonna take it easy on you.
Speaker 1: Just because you're a good player. Yeah.
Speaker 3: So since ever since that conversation, like I was showing
Speaker 3: up the summer workouts, we had like early morning workouts,
Speaker 3: h spring workouts.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it was a.
Speaker 3: Lot, but I mean, you know, it got me to
Speaker 3: where I am now, and I'm grateful for him.
Speaker 2: When you're that age, those kind of moments, especially with
Speaker 2: like figures like a coach, right, it was very impactful.
Speaker 2: Now that you look back on that moment right there,
Speaker 2: you missed the workouts.
Speaker 1: Yeah, how happy.
Speaker 3: Are you that he did that and taught you that
Speaker 3: lesson so early? I mean I'm extremely happy. Yeah, I'm
Speaker 3: extremely less for not only him, but my running backs
Speaker 3: coach coach McCrary He's one of the coaches that I keep,
Speaker 3: you know, really dear to me because when I was
Speaker 3: you know, when you get to high school, you know,
Speaker 3: some people just they don't take school as serious as
Speaker 3: they need to. Uh, And I was one of those
Speaker 3: people who was like, man, I got I'm good at football,
Speaker 3: like I'm gonna make it. Don't need school. And he
Speaker 3: took me and he was like, yo, nah, it ain't
Speaker 3: gonna work like that. And his wife worked at the school.
Speaker 3: She was a cheerleadings coach actually, and uh, you know
Speaker 3: when I needed help with something, he was like, you know,
Speaker 3: I got a she can tutor you, she can help you.
Speaker 3: And uh. She pretty much helped me throughout high school.
Speaker 3: You know, if there was something that I, you know,
Speaker 3: didn't understand, she would you know, sit me down and
Speaker 3: they would explain it to me, and not like it
Speaker 3: was just it wasn't like really I would say school stuff.
Speaker 3: Even if it was like outside stuff you know, about
Speaker 3: about family, about home, you know, they would they would
Speaker 3: bring me in like I would go over there sometimes
Speaker 3: have dinner or whatever. But yeah, I'm extremely blessed for
Speaker 3: both of them and grateful that they helped me get
Speaker 3: to where I am today too.
Speaker 2: That's so cool to hear because it clearly sounds like
Speaker 2: you had people that really believed in you.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, for sure.
Speaker 2: When did you believe like, oh man, I'm gonna I'm
Speaker 2: gonna make it to the next level. I'm at least
Speaker 2: gonna go play college football. When did you like realize that.
Speaker 2: I would say my sophomore year. Actually after my sophomore year, uh,
Speaker 2: going into my junior or high school, I was actually
Speaker 2: on the way to New York, uh, and.
Speaker 3: I got a coach.
Speaker 1: I got a call for my head coach, and.
Speaker 3: He was like, yo, Georgia State's gonna offer you.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 3: I was like to the state, like yeah, So it's like,
Speaker 3: you know, I just I was extremely grateful for that
Speaker 3: opportunity that they would even you know, considered consider me.
Speaker 1: Uh.
Speaker 3: But you know when I kept working, and you know,
Speaker 3: it was I'll never forget the running back that we
Speaker 3: had when I was as freshman. He told me he
Speaker 3: was like, you never break my records.
Speaker 1: And I was like, dang, wow.
Speaker 3: So I took that to heart. Yeah, I'm saying so
Speaker 3: so that my sophomore year I ended up breaking his record.
Speaker 3: The year he left, I end up breaking it, and
Speaker 3: then the year after that, I ended up breaking my
Speaker 3: own record again.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 3: So after that I was, you know, just you just
Speaker 3: think to yourself, like, I really can't do this if
Speaker 3: I apply myself to not only on the field but
Speaker 3: off the field in the classroom.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 3: So I say that was the moment probably like after
Speaker 3: my sophomore year, I was like thinking, I can do this.
Speaker 2: Did you get to see that running back again after
Speaker 2: you broke his record and let him know, like, hey, bro,
Speaker 2: I got you, got you twice?
Speaker 3: So I did. I did see him, pretty cool dude talking.
Speaker 3: You know, he was just I guess he was in
Speaker 3: a bad mood that day. I got mad respect for him.
Speaker 3: He did show me the ropes as a freshman, but yeah,
Speaker 3: I seen him. It was no hard feelings, but you
Speaker 3: know I did do it three.
Speaker 1: Let him know wrong with that.
Speaker 2: And it's funny every time I talk to y'all Georgia boys, man,
Speaker 2: I hear this Peach State pride phrase?
Speaker 1: Right, y'all got this Peach State pride? What does that
Speaker 1: mean to you? Yeah?
Speaker 3: So when I got to Kentucky, I felt like, well,
Speaker 3: even when I was on my official visit to Kentucky,
Speaker 3: it was me and a bunch of Florida boys, or
Speaker 3: me and a bunch of Ohio boys. You know, I
Speaker 3: really didn't really know any any Georgia boys. I was
Speaker 3: on the team.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Uh.
Speaker 3: And when I got there, I met Jamn and Yusuf
Speaker 3: and they're both Yusuf was from around my area. I
Speaker 3: knew him growing up, just like I knew Antonio. And Uh,
Speaker 3: they had this saying it was like Peach State Pride.
Speaker 3: I was like, what I'm talking about, like Peace State Prize.
Speaker 3: You know it's not a lot of Georgia boys is here,
Speaker 3: and you know we we got to keep the brotherhood together.
Speaker 3: Yeah prize what I guess Jamin and Yusuf came up with.
Speaker 3: And uh, every time I see jam And I always
Speaker 3: telling you know, peace State baby.
Speaker 2: And you mentioned Ag. Let's go back to that real quick.
Speaker 2: He's from your area. Yes, he's a guy that played
Speaker 2: in high school not too far from your high school.
Speaker 2: And we talked talked about a little earlier before the
Speaker 2: show started that you know you really he was it
Speaker 2: to you when you watched him play, you were like, yo,
Speaker 2: he's that guy. Talk about AG and how you viewed
Speaker 2: him before even becoming his teammate.
Speaker 3: Yep, So I believe I was in middle school still
Speaker 3: and it was a home game at our high school,
Speaker 3: and it was it was like two people on Eagles
Speaker 3: Land and which is where AG went. It was Antonio
Speaker 3: and then another cold running back receiver something I don't
Speaker 3: even I can't remember what he was. But when I
Speaker 3: was at the game, like you know, usually when when
Speaker 3: the kids go to high school games, they usually play football,
Speaker 3: like by the bleachers or something. But for some reason,
Speaker 3: I was really locked into that game and I saw
Speaker 3: AG playing, I was like, man, he's cold. You know
Speaker 3: this before he was a running back.
Speaker 1: Yeah, he's a receiver.
Speaker 3: So I'm like, this dude is cold. And uh, you
Speaker 3: know when he did end up going, I think he
Speaker 3: went to a Juco first. I kind of kept in contact.
Speaker 3: I looked him up on Twitter, kept in contact with him.
Speaker 3: I don't think he knew of me, but uh, watching
Speaker 3: him play, I'm like, man, I just I want to
Speaker 3: be like that because I was more of the bruiser,
Speaker 3: you know what I'm saying. But Ag, he had a
Speaker 3: little finesse to him. So when I was watching him,
Speaker 3: I was like I want to be like that, you know.
Speaker 3: So He's from the the same area, so kind of
Speaker 3: kept up with him. And ironically enough, my marketing guy
Speaker 3: is the same marketing guy he had, so when I
Speaker 3: did get drafted, we got to the same team. Antonio
Speaker 3: he I can't remember if he text or called me,
Speaker 3: but at that moment, I was like, man, like I
Speaker 3: finally met Antonio. Wow, full circle, full circle.
Speaker 1: Damn.
Speaker 3: It was a It was a pretty cool moment. Honestly,
Speaker 3: you know, from watching him on TV and uh, honestly
Speaker 3: being around him and still you know, it's like I
Speaker 3: would a starstruck because you know, I've seen him when
Speaker 3: he was we was young.
Speaker 1: It was a really cool moment.
Speaker 2: Have you guys had that conversation where you told them
Speaker 2: all these things like, yo, man, I watched you with
Speaker 2: the middle school like does he remember you hitting him up?
Speaker 2: And do you have them all these things like do
Speaker 2: you all have those conversations.
Speaker 3: That we've had them? But you know, at the same time,
Speaker 3: it's like we we What can I say, Like we
Speaker 3: had those conversations, but you know, I don't think he
Speaker 3: knows how much it meant to me. Wow what I'm saying,
Speaker 3: Like he takes it as man like that's cool.
Speaker 1: And stuff.
Speaker 3: I'm like, Dag, like I wanted to be like you
Speaker 3: at one point.
Speaker 1: It's crazy.
Speaker 3: And he wore number twenty four, which was not what
Speaker 3: I used to rock YEP. So I'm like, yeah, this
Speaker 3: is this is cool. It's pretty cool moment. But uh yeah,
Speaker 3: I don't think he understands how cool it was for
Speaker 3: me to actually get to meet him.
Speaker 2: How cool was it for you to have somebody like
Speaker 2: that when you're that age, when you're still trying to
Speaker 2: figure things out, trying to figure out your own path,
Speaker 2: see somebody kind of almost lay the pathway for you
Speaker 2: and say, yo, this is what you can do when
Speaker 2: you're from here, when you work hard.
Speaker 1: How important was that for you?
Speaker 3: Man? Extremely important? Because from our area, like there's some
Speaker 3: kids that like, you know, they like make it out,
Speaker 3: but from my school it's very very few. Like I
Speaker 3: think we had one person that one player that went
Speaker 3: undrafted like a long time ago, but other than that,
Speaker 3: it was like pretty much nobody.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 3: So when I see in ag you know he made
Speaker 3: it out and you know a couple other people from
Speaker 3: our from our city, I was just like, you know,
Speaker 3: I can I can do this. You know what I'm
Speaker 3: saying and.
Speaker 1: They give you that little boost that you need.
Speaker 3: To make it to the next level. And uh, again,
Speaker 3: I'm extremely.
Speaker 1: Grateful for that.
Speaker 2: And Chris, I'm sure you're doing the same thing for
Speaker 2: a lot of the youth from where you're from. Man,
Speaker 2: So shout out to you. And then you go on
Speaker 2: and you decide to go to Kentucky. Sounds like you
Speaker 2: really love where you're from. Man, sounds like you really
Speaker 2: love home. You had a strong support system.
Speaker 1: How hard was it making that decision to go all
Speaker 1: the way up to Kentucky?
Speaker 3: Man? So, so Kentucky wasn't my first choice?
Speaker 1: Really?
Speaker 3: Yeah, so I really really really wanted to go to
Speaker 3: Old Miss. Wow, that was the school I wanted to
Speaker 3: be at, and it was only because of hel Like, Man, yeah,
Speaker 3: I grew up a New York Giants fan, which I
Speaker 3: hate it now, you know what I'm saying. But yeah,
Speaker 3: I grew up a New York fan. My dad's from there,
Speaker 3: so that was you know, when I watched sports, I
Speaker 3: was watching it with him. So when I seen Eli,
Speaker 3: I'm like, Eli was at Old Miss. That's where I
Speaker 3: want to go. So I went up to Old Miss.
Speaker 3: It was an unofficial visit and you know, I fell
Speaker 3: in love with it. I was like, man, I want
Speaker 3: to come here. But at the time, Old Miss had
Speaker 3: was going through some I guess some violations or whatever
Speaker 3: where they couldn't go to a bowl game. And when
Speaker 3: I was talking to my head coach at the time
Speaker 3: for my high school, he was like, you know, you
Speaker 3: don't want to miss out on those bowl games, like
Speaker 3: those are like fun times that you wish you could
Speaker 3: get back. And uh, you know, listening to him, he
Speaker 3: did take me up to Kentucky.
Speaker 1: Uh.
Speaker 3: Well, before I even left Old Miss. I told him.
Speaker 3: I was like, yeah, like, I got one more school
Speaker 3: that we're going to go to. Uh take an unofficial
Speaker 3: and uh it was Kentucky and never like, don't go
Speaker 3: to Kentucky and fall in love. I was like no, man'
Speaker 3: never like I want to come to Old right right right?
Speaker 3: Sure enough, Man got to Kentucky, fell in love, never left,
Speaker 3: never left. So you know I got home. Uh, I
Speaker 3: was in the room with my brother. I think we
Speaker 3: had just woke up that morning, and I was like, yo,
Speaker 3: think about to commit to Kentucky. He was like for real, Yeah,
Speaker 3: so called up coach house and I was like, yo,
Speaker 3: like I think I'm gonna commit to you.
Speaker 1: He's like, good, yeah, you sure. Yeah, yeah, he was
Speaker 1: even surprised.
Speaker 3: Yeah I was.
Speaker 1: I was like, yeah, I think I'm gonna do it.
Speaker 3: So I wouldn't say it was a hard choice. You know.
Speaker 3: It was one of those things that kind of felt
Speaker 3: right at the time. It's like a gut feeling you had,
Speaker 3: like this is where I need to be at. Yeah,
Speaker 3: it was just it was just like, you know, you
Speaker 3: need to be here.
Speaker 1: Yeah. No, So.
Speaker 3: I end up going, and you know, I'm extremely grateful
Speaker 3: for what they what they've helped me accomplish. You know
Speaker 3: what I'm saying, I'm here now.
Speaker 2: So and clearly you said you're here now, So clearly
Speaker 2: you made the right decision. Man went to Kentucky. Now,
Speaker 2: I want to fast forward a little bit to the
Speaker 2: senior ball. Right, you go on Kentucky ball out, you're
Speaker 2: the man, and you're playing against some really high level talent.
Speaker 1: Senior ball comes and this is your chance, right, this
Speaker 1: is your chance. Not a lot of.
Speaker 2: Running backs coming out of Kentucky. Right, let's be honest. Right, So,
Speaker 2: I'm sure you know that pressure you have that on
Speaker 2: you. You come out a day that everybody's watching you right,
Speaker 2: you can make a break yourself right here, and you
Speaker 2: decide to wear a purple face mask. Yes, can you
Speaker 2: talk to us about why you decided to do that
Speaker 2: and use that moment to wear a purple face mass
Speaker 2: to stand out in that way.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 3: So for people that don't know, my mom passed away
Speaker 3: January eleventh, and you know, it was really hard on me. Yeah,
Speaker 3: I didn't even want to play in this Senior Bowl game. Wow,
Speaker 3: Like it was. It was just one of those things
Speaker 3: where I was like, you know, like I'm kind of hurting.
Speaker 3: I didn't want to say hurting, but like I was
Speaker 3: just you know, like I had did something to my
Speaker 3: need that wee cant practice.
Speaker 1: I just was feeling out of it. Wow.
Speaker 3: All the goals that I've had were for my mom,
Speaker 3: like to do with her. Like my goal to make
Speaker 3: it to the NFL was what we sat down and
Speaker 3: we talked about. You know what I'm saying, like she
Speaker 3: helped me create these goals and uh.
Speaker 1: Like for people to ask, like, my why it's her?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm saying like even even though she's not with me,
Speaker 3: it's like she's still my why, you know. And that
Speaker 3: day at the Singer Bowl that the night before and
Speaker 3: I was like, you know, I don't want to play
Speaker 3: or whatever. I talked of my agent. He was like,
Speaker 3: you know, it's just it's up to you. I don't
Speaker 3: think you if you don't want to, then I don't
Speaker 3: think you should. And like it was just another feeling
Speaker 3: that I had, Like when I laid my head down,
Speaker 3: it was like my mom would not want me to
Speaker 3: sit out of this game.
Speaker 1: Wow. You know.
Speaker 3: So when I woke up that next morning, I told
Speaker 3: Jim Naggy, I was like, you know, this is I'm
Speaker 3: gonna play. I got the purple face mask like my family.
Speaker 3: I got family coming, and I don't think my mom
Speaker 3: would want me to sit out. So I ended up playing,
Speaker 3: and I had a pretty decent game. But yeah, that's
Speaker 3: that's pretty much the purple face mask for me.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And you talk about, you know, going through what you
Speaker 2: went through losing a mother, Yeah, very quickly, very fast.
Speaker 2: And this is during the time where, man, you're about
Speaker 2: to accomplish maybe every dream you've ever had. Right, talk
Speaker 2: about how sad you were, you having a hard time
Speaker 2: I'd even want to play?
Speaker 1: How did you power through that? How do you get
Speaker 1: through something so traumatic and so tragic and you're like.
Speaker 3: I mean family for me, family and friends. You know,
Speaker 3: when I did get that call, I was at Exos
Speaker 3: in Dallas and a huge shout out to them. You know,
Speaker 3: they had everybody there was showing me love when I
Speaker 3: was on that sidewalk crying, and I never forget that moment,
Speaker 3: you know. And then when I did get home, I had,
Speaker 3: you know, my family who was there for me, and
Speaker 3: my my friends that I don't even call friends. You
Speaker 3: know what I'm saying. They were all there for me.
Speaker 3: Uh they made it easy, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 3: And uh, that's why I'm extremely blessed for football. Football
Speaker 3: brings you around so many people that that love you
Speaker 3: and care about you. And uh, playing football at a
Speaker 3: young age, as I say, my godfather, my mom, uh,
Speaker 3: she my my foot, my head coach. When I was
Speaker 3: in reg football. Uh, you know, my mom was getting
Speaker 3: sick at some point. I didn't even notice, but she
Speaker 3: told my coach was like, hey, can Chris come live
Speaker 3: with you? And uh, you know, just keep take care
Speaker 3: of him, like I'm getting sick or whatever. And I
Speaker 3: didn't know that until I think my second year in college,
Speaker 3: and she told me she was like I asked him to,
Speaker 3: you know, take care of you, and I call him
Speaker 3: my godfather. But man's it runs deep, you know what
Speaker 3: I'm saying. Like I've been to family reunions with the family.
Speaker 3: Every time I go back home, I stay with them.
Speaker 1: Like it's family. You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 3: They introduced me to a lot of people that I
Speaker 3: don't even call friends anymore. His family, Like I said,
Speaker 3: it runs deep.
Speaker 1: Blood.
Speaker 2: Couldn't make us closer. Wow, man, that's so cool. And
Speaker 2: your mom's clearly was a very swart woman. Man, clearly
Speaker 2: you loved her a lot. What are some of the
Speaker 2: things that she taught you that you carry every single day? Like,
Speaker 2: I know me, the older I get, the more I
Speaker 2: think about my parents and things, and I'm just like Dag,
Speaker 2: they were right about this, man.
Speaker 1: I remember they used to.
Speaker 2: Always say this, to do this, and I never understood,
Speaker 2: But now that I'm older, I get it.
Speaker 1: What are some of those things you carry with you
Speaker 1: that you got for your mom?
Speaker 3: Man, My mom she was one of those people who
Speaker 3: I always say, was like, she was like one of
Speaker 3: my best friends. You know what I'm saying, Like I
Speaker 3: could tell her anything, anything that I ever did anything.
Speaker 3: When I got in trouble, I would tell her she
Speaker 3: wouldn't be mad, you know what I'm saying. But she
Speaker 3: she always told me, like, you know, being say it
Speaker 3: like outside of football, being in the in the streets
Speaker 3: and like partying and having fun, it ain't.
Speaker 1: It ain't for everybody.
Speaker 3: And uh, you know, I thought, you know, going to
Speaker 3: the club, you know, when I was in college, going
Speaker 3: to the club with friends and having fun partying, I
Speaker 3: thought it was, you know what I'm saying, a part
Speaker 3: of lifestyle. But sure enough I did. I did end
Speaker 3: up getting in trouble and she came up to me
Speaker 3: and she she helped me. She was like I told you.
Speaker 3: She's like, I'm glad you found out now rather than later.
Speaker 3: She's like, I still love you. I'm not mad at you,
Speaker 3: but you had to learn. And uh for that. Extremely
Speaker 3: grateful for that, for that, for that moment, Like that's
Speaker 3: one of those mom that I wish I can, you
Speaker 3: know what I'm saying, get back, you know, crying in
Speaker 3: my mom's hands and she's holding me, kissing me on
Speaker 3: my forehead and stuff. But extreme, extremely sad moment. But
Speaker 3: again blessed that I even had the opportunity to go
Speaker 3: through that with her.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and that's really interesting to hear, you know.
Speaker 2: You like, we have a lot of people on I
Speaker 2: mean you guys all men that come on this show
Speaker 2: right next man Up, and a lot of them are
Speaker 2: black men, and talk about how hard it is to
Speaker 2: have these moments of vulnerability, have these moments where you feel,
Speaker 2: have these moments where you can cry and things like that.
Speaker 2: What you're going through is pretty fresh. It hasn't been
Speaker 2: a long time at all. We're going through the holidays
Speaker 2: and all that. Are you finding time to have your
Speaker 2: moments where you grieve and feel and let these things
Speaker 2: out while you're in the midst of a rookie season
Speaker 2: and trying to do all of these things and you
Speaker 2: have those moments.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah.
Speaker 3: So for me, like I've been living with my fiance
Speaker 3: for like four years now, So whenever I do feel
Speaker 3: like I need those moments, moments, you know, it's just
Speaker 3: me and her, you know what I'm saying. We sit
Speaker 3: down and we might not talk about it long, but
Speaker 3: we talk about it, you know what I'm saying. And
Speaker 3: I got a picture in a picture from my mom's
Speaker 3: funeral and I keep it, you know, I'm saying in
Speaker 3: my living room, and whenever I feel like I just
Speaker 3: need to talk to her, I just go up to
Speaker 3: her and I just I just talk to her.
Speaker 1: Wow, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 3: It's just one of those things where it makes me,
Speaker 3: it makes me feel better, you know what I'm saying,
Speaker 3: makes it feel like she's listening. And before every game,
Speaker 3: you know, I sit down and I talk to her.
Speaker 3: I don't know if anybody's ever realized, but before the game,
Speaker 3: I'm always at the end of the bench on the
Speaker 3: knee and I'm praying and talking to her, just asking
Speaker 3: her to just keep keep your eyes out for me
Speaker 3: and keep her arms on me, no injuries and stuff
Speaker 3: like that, and just asking her how she's doing. And sometimes,
Speaker 3: you know, I feel like she actually is talking back.
Speaker 3: But you know what I'm saying, it's just one of
Speaker 3: those things.
Speaker 1: Well, Chris, she definitely has her arms wrapped around you. Man.
Speaker 2: You know, you get through all of that, You go
Speaker 2: through the Pro Bowl, go through the Combine. I believe
Speaker 2: you even did like a thing where you raised money
Speaker 2: for LUPUS people with like your reps on the bench press.
Speaker 2: So still very much locked into what you're going on
Speaker 2: with her, but you're also getting a job done. Now
Speaker 2: draft night comes, get drafted in sixth round. You get
Speaker 2: that call.
Speaker 1: Now believe you were at home in Georgia with family, right,
Speaker 1: were you in Georgia?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I was in Georgia.
Speaker 1: Bring us back.
Speaker 2: There, man, take us back to that moment when you
Speaker 2: got that call, where you was at, who you was
Speaker 2: around you and embraced you.
Speaker 1: Talk about that little bit. Yeah.
Speaker 3: So at the draft party, it was basically a bunch
Speaker 3: of people that helped me get to where I was,
Speaker 3: and a bunch of my family. Some of my friends
Speaker 3: stopped stopped by, really most of them. But yeah, so
Speaker 3: I remember there were some coaches I won't name who
Speaker 3: to go to. Some coaches were calling me and telling
Speaker 3: me like he man, we're gonna get.
Speaker 1: You free agent.
Speaker 3: And I'm like, coach, like the draft is still going on,
Speaker 3: like that what you called me after?
Speaker 1: And then I remember getting.
Speaker 3: A car from Coach Rivera And at the time I
Speaker 3: was just I was so so struck, you know what
Speaker 3: I'm saying.
Speaker 1: I was just like, this is really happening.
Speaker 3: And uh, for people that see the video, like I'm
Speaker 3: sitting on the couch, it was my fiance on my
Speaker 3: right and my little sister on my left, and I
Speaker 3: felt like it was one of those moments where it's like, man,
Speaker 3: I'm supposed to be sharing this moment with my mom.
Speaker 3: You know what I'm saying. I hate to go you know,
Speaker 3: backtrack or whateverbody was. It's just one of those moments
Speaker 3: where I'm like, dang, we talked about this moment for
Speaker 3: a long time. Yeah, you know, and uh, people like, man,
Speaker 3: you don't look at he don't look excited to be drafted,
Speaker 3: And I'm like, man, it's a lot of emotionary and
Speaker 3: a lot Yeah, it's like a lot of emotions going
Speaker 3: through me right now. Like one my dream I just
Speaker 3: accomplished it. You know what I'm saying. It was one
Speaker 3: of my dreams, one of my goals, but it was
Speaker 3: one of me and my mom's go was at the
Speaker 3: same time. So going through that, like he was just like, man,
Speaker 3: I cannot believe this is happening. And then after that,
Speaker 3: like you know that moment where I hung up the
Speaker 3: phone and hear my name on the TV. It's like, man,
Speaker 3: this is this is this is real life. And also
Speaker 3: mad that day, like my hats were late coming in,
Speaker 3: so Washington had was the only one that I didn't have.
Speaker 1: Oh man, I was mad at that, and I'm like.
Speaker 3: I can't even put the hat on.
Speaker 2: That's a big moment to put the I want to
Speaker 2: put the hat on, Like that's the that's the big
Speaker 2: that's the.
Speaker 3: Big moment, right. But I'm extremely grateful that that Washington
Speaker 3: was able to you know, draft me in. You know
Speaker 3: what I'm saying here, we are hopefully creating some memories here.
Speaker 3: I know I am sir, so hopefully there's many more
Speaker 3: to come.
Speaker 2: And like you said, here we are week thirteen, five
Speaker 2: weeks left, I mean five games left in your rookie season.
Speaker 2: What do you think your mom would say to you today?
Speaker 2: You say you talk to her, You say you feel
Speaker 2: like you can hear from her. What do you think
Speaker 2: she say to Chris Rodriguelds said to see where her
Speaker 2: little boys are after you know, the tears, the hard times,
Speaker 2: the practices.
Speaker 1: What do you think she say to you today?
Speaker 3: You know, I think for her it would be like, like,
Speaker 3: I'm so proud of you. You know, I won't expose
Speaker 3: my nickname. My mom used to call me stink a pot,
Speaker 3: think a pot. Yeah, she said, I used to. It
Speaker 3: used to be bad when I used to go number
Speaker 3: two when I was a baby.
Speaker 1: So that's where it came from.
Speaker 3: Yeah, So she used to call me stink apart. So
Speaker 3: she'd be like, I'm so proud of your stink apart,
Speaker 3: like I knew you would do it. I'm so glad
Speaker 3: that you're staying the course. I know it's not easy,
Speaker 3: but I'm proud of you and I love you so much.
Speaker 3: You know, my mom was one of those people who
Speaker 3: when she came up to stay with me when I
Speaker 3: was in Kentucky, she was not leaving. She didn't want
Speaker 3: to leave, she didn't want to go home, but you
Speaker 3: know when she did, she was like, I don't want
Speaker 3: to leave, just s we come back. But uh, you know,
Speaker 3: I think if my mom was to her, she'd be
Speaker 3: living with me by now, and where there I was
Speaker 3: in an apartment house, she'd be living with me right now.
Speaker 1: So that's so cool. Man.
Speaker 2: Well, man, I have no doubt that your mom's with you. Man,
Speaker 2: She with you right now, She with you every time
Speaker 2: you step on that field, and you've been able to
Speaker 2: get on this field, man, able to show what you're
Speaker 2: capable of. That's rare or sixth round pick, not every
Speaker 2: sixth round pick, ce minutes stay rookie year? How many
Speaker 2: six round picks make the team. How good is it
Speaker 2: to be where you are at right now at this
Speaker 2: point in time, being on this team, living out your dream?
Speaker 1: Man? How good are you feeling?
Speaker 3: Man? Honestly, I feel good. You know what I'm saying,
Speaker 3: especially like you said, the position that I'm in, like,
Speaker 3: not a lot of six round picks see the field. Yeah,
Speaker 3: I'm blessed to even you know, have some carries at
Speaker 3: this point. You know what I'm saying. First game of
Speaker 3: the season, first third down, I got in. I was shocked.
Speaker 3: I'm like you calling me, But yeah, man, I'm I'm
Speaker 3: extremely blessed. You know. It's it's tough right now. Uh
Speaker 3: you know they say you hit your rookie wall. I
Speaker 3: won't lie, man.
Speaker 1: You're there, You're there.
Speaker 3: It's real. You know what I'm saying, Like, it's tough,
Speaker 3: but you know, you know you stayed. Of course, you
Speaker 3: got vets that you talked to, like I talked to
Speaker 3: you know, DG who's been doing it for a minute,
Speaker 3: j will Antonio And you know I know this b
Speaker 3: rob second year, but you know I talked to that
Speaker 3: when when I feel like, man like it's hard and
Speaker 3: they're like, like, it's only your one. You just getting started,
Speaker 3: and uh, you know, they give me tips on how
Speaker 3: to take care of my body and stuff. Still getting
Speaker 3: into the midst of that, but they say it's an investment,
Speaker 3: but it's a great one.
Speaker 1: It is.
Speaker 3: It should be the first one that you you know
Speaker 3: what I'm saying, really investing. So yeah, it's been tough,
Speaker 3: but man, it's going.
Speaker 1: I can see the way on you still like that.
Speaker 1: I know the season's ended there.
Speaker 2: If we appreciate your time so much, I just have
Speaker 2: one more thing for you, man, that's your isual cam
Speaker 2: right there, sir. But those are all familiar with who
Speaker 2: Chris Rodriguez is. Looking at Camra right there and let
Speaker 2: the command is family know who Chris Rodriguez is.
Speaker 3: Chris Rodriguez man really outgoing, funny, kind guy. You get
Speaker 3: to meet him. Love country music. I'm in the you
Speaker 3: know what I'm saying. Used to I'm starting to get
Speaker 3: back into it. But really a quiet dude. If you
Speaker 3: ever see me out, you can save what's up to me.
Speaker 3: I ain't one of the scary dudes. I ain't gonna
Speaker 3: gonna blow you off. I love everybody. I'm normal just
Speaker 3: like everybody else.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Man, well you're definitely normal, but you're all so
Speaker 1: special in that. Man.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much for sharing what you shared today,
Speaker 2: because I know that's not easy, man, especially when it's
Speaker 2: talking about your parents and it's something that's so fresh
Speaker 2: and so new.
Speaker 1: Man. So you know, I hope you and your family
Speaker 1: are doing well. Man.
Speaker 2: Prayers to all of them and your other Man. She
Speaker 2: raised the great young man, and I have no doubt
Speaker 2: she's proud of.
Speaker 1: You, just like the rest of us, proud of your
Speaker 1: cig you think, man. Command is family.
Speaker 2: This is the next Man Up Podcast with no other
Speaker 2: than all running back Chris Rodricus Chris Thank You, Brothers,
Speaker 2: Will Thank.
Speaker 1: You Love podcast.
Speaker 2: We have a lot more for you on the Commander's
Speaker 2: Podcast Network.
Speaker 1: That's right.
Speaker 2: We have the Command Center Podcast with Logan Paulson and
Speaker 2: Fred Smooth and Santanta mass It's like hanging out with
Speaker 2: your best friends, but you're talking all Commander's football. Then
Speaker 2: we have the Players Club with Legends London Plusher and
Speaker 2: Santana Mars and they sit with your favorite Commanders players
Speaker 2: and they talk football in the way that only.
Speaker 1: Those who played the game could.
Speaker 2: Then, of course we have to get Loud podcast with
Speaker 2: Mike Jenkins and Fred Smooth doing what they do best.
Speaker 2: Didn't Loud That show is a lot of fun. And
Speaker 2: then of course you have the Next Man Up Podcast.
Speaker 2: We'll be back next Tuesday with another one of your
Speaker 2: favorite Commander's players. All that and more than be found
Speaker 2: on The Commander's Podcast Network, streaming wherever you get your podcasts,
Speaker 2: or you can watch us on The Commander's YouTube page.