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A Standout's Year Apart
"It's great when I get to see my mom and I love when she comes up," Andrew Rodriguez says. "It's a really great thing my mom is doing, making a sacrifice for me because she thinks this puts me in a better situation to succeed."
(Preston Keres - The Washington Post)
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Unlike most of his classmates, he reads the front page of the newspaper and watches the news with more than just a passing interest. But he does not have extended periods of contemplation. He simply doesn't have the time. He carries a 4.34 weighted grade-point average and is taking three Advanced Placement classes at Ireton, located in Alexandria. After school, the 6-foot-3, 220-pound junior turns to sports; he is a three-year starter at linebacker and wide receiver for the school's football team and was a key contributor on the basketball team. Spring means track, where his main events are the 200 and 400 meters.
Track also presents some scheduling difficulties for a teenager hoping to earn a college football scholarship. While other members of the football team lift weights after school, Rodriguez usually gets in his lifting on his own. Most nights, after going back to his aunt and uncle's home and eating a quick dinner, Rodriguez heads to the U.S. Coast Guard Navigation Center in Alexandria. He flashes his military dependent identification to gain entry to the base and heads to the weight room.
"It's hard work, but I enjoy making gains," Rodriguez said. "I don't enjoy pushing myself like that, but it's worth it when you get stronger and faster."
Rodriguez hopes the work in the weight room will pay off next week, when he will attend an invitation-only combine in New Jersey. So far, college teams have yet to offer him a scholarship. Rodriguez was invited to attend a game at Notre Dame last fall -- against Army, ironically -- but the assistant coach recruiting him was fired after the season.
Tony Verducci, Ireton's interim head coach, has sent Rodriguez's highlight tapes to several other schools, but acknowledged that without seeing Rodriguez in person many colleges are skeptical because the reputation of Ireton's football program is not particularly strong.
Rodriguez, a team captain, said he has a list of about 10 colleges from which he would like to choose. (His older brother, David, plays linebacker at Gettysburg College.) Army, his father's alma mater, is on the list, but Rodriguez said he has not decided whether he would like to pursue a college or career that includes the military, though he is certain that Navy is out of the question.
"My dad wouldn't be angry with me; he would expect me to go to Army if I went into the military," Rodriguez said.
From occasionally going to work with his father to visiting injured soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in the District and the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Rodriguez has received an introduction to military life. Many of the things he learned by observing he tries to carry over into athletics.
"The army is really based on leadership," Rodriguez said. "I got to see on a first-hand basis the type of leadership it takes to be successful. The best lesson my dad taught me about leadership is lead by example: Be the best, work the hardest, do everything and inspire others to follow you."
