Los Fresnos' Rodriguez signs with Abilene Christian

By Todd Orodenker

The Brownsville Herald

LOS FRESNOS — With his mom to his right and his dad to his left, Christian Rodriguez made his decision.

The Los Fresnos offensive lineman signed a letter of intent to play at Abilene Christian on Wednesday afternoon in a ceremony at the high school in front of friends, family, teammates and coaches.

"Right now, I’m speechless," the 6-foot-6, 250 lb. lineman said. "It’s hard to put into words how I’m feeling."

Rodriguez picked Abilene Christian over Texas A&M-Kingsville, McKendree and Idaho State, among a few other NAIA schools. Even though he’s never been on campus there, Rodriguez was impressed with assistant coach Nathan Young coming down to recruit him.

The Wildcats’ track record — they went 8-3 overall and 7-1 in the Lone Star Conference last year — obviously didn’t hurt.

"They made me feel at home," Rodriguez said. "They called me on Thursday and they offered me on Saturday."

Los Fresnos coach Clint Finley, who first saw Rodriguez when he came over from Port Isabel after his sophomore season two years ago, was more than happy for his stud tackle.

"Very much, very excited," Finley said. "It’s been a goal for him for a long time."

Rodriguez had 77 pancakes, allowed just two sacks and graded out at 84 percent for the Falcons during the 2011 season. He wound up as a second team offensive lineman in District 32-5A and as a first teamer on The Brownsville Herald’s All-Metro squad.

But even with those honors and even with the summer invites to camps across Texas, Rodriguez never saw a day like this coming.

"I never thought it would get to this point," he said. "When coaches would tell me I had the ability to do it, I started working harder."

He came into Los Fresnos weighing 289 pounds and stands at a solid 250 right now. The commitment to the weight room and the commitment to staying in shape year round certainly helped Rodriguez secure a number of different offers.

"The two years I spent at Los Fresnos really helped me out at weights," he said. "By the end of the first football season, I dropped down."

His coach, no stranger to collegiate ball himself, noticed the difference.

"The improvement he had from last year to this year has been (terrific)," Finley, a Nebraska grad, said. "It’s hard to handle him."

That is the football part of this deal, though. There’s also the education, which is something Rodriguez is not taking for granted.

"The main thing for me was to get my education paid for," he said. "I really want to get my diploma first."

Rodriguez will probably have a full year to focus on that, as he expects to redshirt during his freshman season. That will take the pressure of winning games and playing time off him, and let him adapt to his new surroundings and focus on getting ahead in the classroom.

It’ll certainly be different from the past two years at Los Fresnos, but his coach knows it’ll be something he can handle.

"It’ll all play out as he gets there," Finley said. "I expect to be hearing good things from him in the future."

Meanwhile, over in Port Isabel, Armando Fierro signed his letter of intent to run cross country and track at West Alabama. The school, like Abilene Christian, is a Division II institution.

Todd Orodenker covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6663 or via e-mail at torodenker@brownsvilleherald.com. Follow him on Twitter @ToddO243.