In the fall of 2011, Rodriguez plunged into training to return to football. As the intensity of his workouts increased, his appetite returned, as did his ability to sleep for solid durations. Subsequently, he re-engaged with friends and family.
On Nov. 6, 2011, the Redskins played the San Francisco 49ers at FedEx Field, and the Adelsons had offered Rodriguez tickets in their friends’ suite. Before the game, Vanessa Adelson said she sent Rodriguez a text message: “You cannot drink and be out of control again.”
His response: “I’m not drinking anymore.”
‘It’s not going to backfire’
In the late fall of 2011, a friend of Rodriguez’s produced a YouTube video highlighting Rodriguez’s workouts and his goal of playing college football. The video went viral, and more than 50 schools reached out.
While Rodriguez was in class one day this past spring, he received an e-mail from Clemson Coach Dabo Swinney expressing his interest in allowing Rodriguez to play for the Tigers as a walk-on wide receiver and special teams player.
Because Rodriguez remains one course shy of completing his associate’s degree, Clemson had to file waivers with the NCAA and the ACC.
A Clemson spokesman said the school never previously had filed such a request. The waivers were granted earlier this month.
Rodriguez “is going to set a precedent that nobody else on that team can match,” said Brad Larson, who played and coached at Division II Doane College in Nebraska before serving with Rodriguez in Afghanistan. “It’s not going to backfire in his face, but the other players are going to realize that they need to start working half as hard as Daniel because he’ll outwork anybody on that team.”
Rodriguez knows the night terrors will return occasionally for the rest of his life, that he may always feel the urge to sleep on a residence’s first floor. But he found therapy in training to return to a football field, and so for at least a little while longer — he has three years of eligibility while he attends school on the G.I. Bill — he’ll take full advantage of the catharsis his sport brings.
“My advantage in life is that anything that happens to me now, anything with football, is an opportunity,” Rodriguez said. “I’m excited to run wind sprints. That’s an opportunity I got to fight for. I’m getting a second chance now. Some of these guys might complain about it; they might not want to do it. For me, I don’t care. It beats being shot at.”
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