Two years ago, Evan Rodriguez found himself center stage with the upstart Flag Football pro league — a game where he hooked up with former NFL quarterback Micheal Vick for 4 touchdowns and a game MVP. Fast forward to this past Saturday, where you could see him helping highlight the new upstart league, Alliance of American football; a league where he was the starting tight end for the San Antonio Commanders.
The Commanders defeated the San Diego Fleet with a score of 15 to 8 in the season opener. The game was a defensive fight, despite being a much faster game than what the NFL offers. “The play clock moves much faster,” Rodriguez explained, “once the ball is set and you get out of the huddle, you have only 10 to 12 seconds to run a play.” He also credits the low scoring in week one to only a month and a half of team practice and activities: “[We’re] just starting to gel,” as compared to the NFL were you usually get close to seven months to prepare for the 16-week season.
Rodriguez had formerly been with 4 different NFL franchises (Bears, Dolphins, Buccaneers and Bills) primarily as a fullback, but is now being used at what he calls his natural position of tight end. On being able to have a second chance since his last stint in the NFL, Rodriguez credits his faith and making sure he made an investment at each stop after the NFL closed the doors. Bouncing through a few smaller upstart leagues got the attention of NFL annalist Merrill Hodge, who noticed Rodriguez and gave a call to Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Famer and general manager of the Commanders, Daryl “Moose” Johnston, to give Rodriguez a shot…and the rest is history.
We will check in with Evan as the season progresses to see how the league is doing, so stay tuned.
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