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Pro Bowler and Purple Heart meet again at Rams practice/PD
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_e8529bbf-0525-5b5f-8e65-aec51fcaebfd.html
OXNARD, CALIF. • Jason Witten didn’t remember the face, but he remembered the trip. Six years ago, the Dallas tight end was part of an NFL contingent that traveled to Afghanistan on a USO tour.
Surely, the last thing he expected to see when he stepped out on the practice field Monday was one of the U.S. Army soldiers he visited on that tour: Rams wide receiver Daniel Rodriguez.
“I talked to him before practice,” Rodriguez said Monday night after practice. “I have a picture of us together in Afghanistan. I was a sergeant. I had just been shot. I was in the middle of Afghanistan and (NFL players) Jason Witten, Vernon Davis, Joe Thomas and Mario Williams show up.”
Rodriguez had a picture taken with Witten at the time, and he presented Witten with a copy of that photo before Monday’s practice between the Rams and Cowboys.
“He was so kind to us, and six years later I’m practicing against him,” Rodriguez said. “I’m like, ‘You don’t remember me, but in the middle of Afghanistan you were at my FOB.’ We shook hands.”
FOB is military jargon for forward operating base.
“It was pretty special to know that you could make an impact on him like that,” Witten said. “I saw the photo, and I remember the exact spot. Being on the FOB with those guys was pretty surreal for me, but I had no idea that he was in (training) camp.
“So it’s pretty special when you think of the big picture where he came from, where he’s at, and you never know who you’re going to meet and the impression you’re going to make. I mean, that wasn’t what I was thinking when I came out to practice, you know?”
Rodriguez, 27, was in the Army from 2006-10, serving in Afghanistan and Iraq. At the battle of Kamdesh in Afghanistan on Oct. 3, 2009, 300 Taliban insurgents battled 38 U.S. soldiers in a firefight that lasted 18 hours.
Eight Americans lost their lives. Rodriguez was one of 22 Americans wounded, taking a bullet to the shoulder and shrapnel to his legs and neck from a rocket-propelled grenade.
He was awarded a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star for his valor.
In Oxnard, the Pro Bowler and Purple Heart recipient met again.
“He talked about the exact time where we were (in Afghanistan),” Witten said of Rodriguez. “Where we were eating. There was kind of a joke that happened that he reminded me of. He said, ‘Hey man, loved how you handled yourself.’ ... So he just wanted to say hello.”
Witten said Monday’s encounter put a smile on his face.
The battle of Kamdesh was one of the bloodiest for U.S. troops in Afghanistan. It has been studied by cadets at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, many of whom went on to serve as Army officers in Afghanistan.
At the time of the USO visit, Rodriguez was impressed that Witten and the NFL players would visit U.S. troops out in the middle of nowhere.
“We were still fighting almost every day, and he came out there,” Rodriguez said. “So it was pretty incredible to see those guys walk in, risk their safety and their time to put a few smiles on our faces.”
When he left the Army, Rodriguez enrolled at Clemson, joined the football team as a walk-on and played four seasons for the Tigers — mainly on special teams.
In 39 career games, he had one start, caught 11 passes (one for a touchdown), carried once (for five yards), and returned six punts.
Rams coach Jeff Fisher, a big supporter of the Wounded Warrior project and the military in general, invited Rodriguez to the team’s rookie minicamp on a tryout basis in early May.
Fisher visited troops in the Persian Gulf in 2009 and climbed Mount Kilimanjaro during his year off from coaching (2011) to raise funds and awareness for Wounded Warriors. Every year at the end of training camp, the Rams have a light practice with servicemen and servicewomen at Scott Air Force Base.
Rodriguez was signed to the Rams’ 90-man offseason roster following minicamp, and although he’s very much a longshot to make the active roster, it wouldn’t be a shock to see him end up on the team’s practice squad after the final cuts are made.
In Friday’s exhibition opener, against Oakland, Rodriguez returned one kickoff for 23 yards and returned a punt for 6 yards. He was targeted three times at wide receiver, catching one pass for 4 yards.
“Early in the preseason, we know what Tavon (Austin) can do from a punt return standpoint,” Fisher said. “And then we wanted to go into the second half and let Danny get a kickoff return and then get him some reps (at wide receiver) because he’s earned it.
“He’s earned that right, the work he’s done on the practice field. ... We were trying to get him a touchdown.”
Rodriguez was hoping to get a signed copy of his autobiography: “Rise: A Soldier, A Dream, and a Promise Kept” into Witten’s hands. Sony TriStar Entertainment purchased the rights to the best-selling book, and plans a movie on Rodriguez’s life.
Before signing with the Rams, Rodriguez moved to Los Angeles, where he was working as a consultant on the movie project. Following the Oakland game the Rams flew to LA and had Saturday off; Rodriguez spent the day at home, which is Hermosa Beach.
The movie project, he said, “is in the works. It’s kind of out of my hands. But it’s a pretty cool concept that it’s even picked up. I’m trying to focus on football and everything I can here.”
And along the way, renew an old acquaintance.
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_e8529bbf-0525-5b5f-8e65-aec51fcaebfd.html
OXNARD, CALIF. • Jason Witten didn’t remember the face, but he remembered the trip. Six years ago, the Dallas tight end was part of an NFL contingent that traveled to Afghanistan on a USO tour.
Surely, the last thing he expected to see when he stepped out on the practice field Monday was one of the U.S. Army soldiers he visited on that tour: Rams wide receiver Daniel Rodriguez.
“I talked to him before practice,” Rodriguez said Monday night after practice. “I have a picture of us together in Afghanistan. I was a sergeant. I had just been shot. I was in the middle of Afghanistan and (NFL players) Jason Witten, Vernon Davis, Joe Thomas and Mario Williams show up.”
Rodriguez had a picture taken with Witten at the time, and he presented Witten with a copy of that photo before Monday’s practice between the Rams and Cowboys.
“He was so kind to us, and six years later I’m practicing against him,” Rodriguez said. “I’m like, ‘You don’t remember me, but in the middle of Afghanistan you were at my FOB.’ We shook hands.”
FOB is military jargon for forward operating base.
“It was pretty special to know that you could make an impact on him like that,” Witten said. “I saw the photo, and I remember the exact spot. Being on the FOB with those guys was pretty surreal for me, but I had no idea that he was in (training) camp.
“So it’s pretty special when you think of the big picture where he came from, where he’s at, and you never know who you’re going to meet and the impression you’re going to make. I mean, that wasn’t what I was thinking when I came out to practice, you know?”
Rodriguez, 27, was in the Army from 2006-10, serving in Afghanistan and Iraq. At the battle of Kamdesh in Afghanistan on Oct. 3, 2009, 300 Taliban insurgents battled 38 U.S. soldiers in a firefight that lasted 18 hours.
Eight Americans lost their lives. Rodriguez was one of 22 Americans wounded, taking a bullet to the shoulder and shrapnel to his legs and neck from a rocket-propelled grenade.
He was awarded a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star for his valor.
In Oxnard, the Pro Bowler and Purple Heart recipient met again.
“He talked about the exact time where we were (in Afghanistan),” Witten said of Rodriguez. “Where we were eating. There was kind of a joke that happened that he reminded me of. He said, ‘Hey man, loved how you handled yourself.’ ... So he just wanted to say hello.”
Witten said Monday’s encounter put a smile on his face.
The battle of Kamdesh was one of the bloodiest for U.S. troops in Afghanistan. It has been studied by cadets at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, many of whom went on to serve as Army officers in Afghanistan.
At the time of the USO visit, Rodriguez was impressed that Witten and the NFL players would visit U.S. troops out in the middle of nowhere.
“We were still fighting almost every day, and he came out there,” Rodriguez said. “So it was pretty incredible to see those guys walk in, risk their safety and their time to put a few smiles on our faces.”
When he left the Army, Rodriguez enrolled at Clemson, joined the football team as a walk-on and played four seasons for the Tigers — mainly on special teams.
In 39 career games, he had one start, caught 11 passes (one for a touchdown), carried once (for five yards), and returned six punts.
Rams coach Jeff Fisher, a big supporter of the Wounded Warrior project and the military in general, invited Rodriguez to the team’s rookie minicamp on a tryout basis in early May.
Fisher visited troops in the Persian Gulf in 2009 and climbed Mount Kilimanjaro during his year off from coaching (2011) to raise funds and awareness for Wounded Warriors. Every year at the end of training camp, the Rams have a light practice with servicemen and servicewomen at Scott Air Force Base.
Rodriguez was signed to the Rams’ 90-man offseason roster following minicamp, and although he’s very much a longshot to make the active roster, it wouldn’t be a shock to see him end up on the team’s practice squad after the final cuts are made.
In Friday’s exhibition opener, against Oakland, Rodriguez returned one kickoff for 23 yards and returned a punt for 6 yards. He was targeted three times at wide receiver, catching one pass for 4 yards.
“Early in the preseason, we know what Tavon (Austin) can do from a punt return standpoint,” Fisher said. “And then we wanted to go into the second half and let Danny get a kickoff return and then get him some reps (at wide receiver) because he’s earned it.
“He’s earned that right, the work he’s done on the practice field. ... We were trying to get him a touchdown.”
Rodriguez was hoping to get a signed copy of his autobiography: “Rise: A Soldier, A Dream, and a Promise Kept” into Witten’s hands. Sony TriStar Entertainment purchased the rights to the best-selling book, and plans a movie on Rodriguez’s life.
Before signing with the Rams, Rodriguez moved to Los Angeles, where he was working as a consultant on the movie project. Following the Oakland game the Rams flew to LA and had Saturday off; Rodriguez spent the day at home, which is Hermosa Beach.
The movie project, he said, “is in the works. It’s kind of out of my hands. But it’s a pretty cool concept that it’s even picked up. I’m trying to focus on football and everything I can here.”
And along the way, renew an old acquaintance.
