Army football fans in search of an uplifting story from this weekend may have to shift focus a bit farther south than West Point. We’ve written about former Army Sgt. Daniel Rodriguez’s inspiring journey from the Afghanistan battlefield to the Clemson gridiron, but his story made the national spotlight over the weekend, airing on the “CBS Evening News.” Rodriguez talks about losing his best friend in battle, dealing with alcohol abuse after leaving the military and his quest to play big-time college football as a 5-foot-8, 175-pounder in his mid-20s. Last week, before his Clemson Tigers moved to 4-1 with…
Browsing: Daniel Rodriguez
Five quick hits for an 0-2 weekend of service academy football: 1. Yes, it’s that bad. Army’s 42-7 loss at San Diego State on Saturday wasn’t the worst in opening-day performance in school history — but it was the Black Knights’ worst start since falling to Boston College 44-7 in 2005. And Navy’s 50-10 demolition at the hands of Notre Dame on Sept. 1 wasn’t the worst opening-day loss in Annapolis history — Navy fell 53-0 to Virginia in 1992. But when it comes to both schools struggling at the same time, this year’s combined minus-75 point differential to start…
Five quick hits as football season draws ever closer — you could almost count the days: 1. Turner passes PRT. Bill Wagner at The (Annapolis, Md.) Capital reports Navy senior wideout Brandon Turner returned to the practice field Thursday after passing the academy’s physical readiness test. Linebacker Josh Tate and cornerback Albrey Felder failed the PRT again but will be allowed another attempt, Wagner reported, though there’s no date set. Expect Turner to reappear on the team’s next depth chart. 2. Filling the gaps. Speaking of the Navy depth chart, the current version has a unique feature in the bottom…
A former soldier’s quest that started with a YouTube workout video ended Friday, as the NCAA granted Daniel Rodriguez permission to join the Clemson football team for the upcoming season. Rodriguez earned a Bronze Star and Purple Heart in Afghanistan in October 2009, and also served in Iraq, according to The (Charleston, S.C.) Post and Courier report announcing his eligibility. He left the Army as a sergeant and posted a workout video that caught the attention of many, including our workout folks at the PT365 blog and Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney. Rodriguez enrolled at Clemson and will use his…
