Christopher Rodriguez Jr. (born September 26, 2000) is an American football running back for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at Kentucky, finishing second in school history in career rushing touchdowns and third in rushing yards before being selected by the Commanders in the sixth round of the

2023 NFL Draft The 2023 NFL Draft will be the 88th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players. The draft is scheduled to be held in the plaza outside of Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri, on April 27–29, ...

Early life

Rodriguez was born on September 26, 2000, in McDonough, Georgia. He played center on the offensive line in middle school until he broke his arm in seventh grade; he would be moved to

fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to: Sports * A position in various kinds of football, including: ** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position ** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...

upon returning. He would be moved to running back upon attending Ola High School, where he recorded 1,669 yards and 25 touchdowns as a senior. Rated a three-star prospect, Rodriguez committed to play

at Kentucky.

College career

Rodriguez played in three games and rushed twice for 43 yards in his true freshman season before opting to redshirt the rest of the season. As a redshirt freshman in 2019, he rushed 71 times for 533 yards and six touchdowns. As a redshirt sophomore in 2020, Rodriguez was the Wildcats' leading rusher with 785 yards and 11 touchdowns. As a redshirt junior in 2021, Rodriguez rushed for 1,272 yards and eight touchdowns on 205 carries during the regular season. In May 2022, Rodriguez was arrested by a campus police officer and charged with

driving under the influence Driving under the influence (DUI)—also called driving while impaired, impaired driving, driving while intoxicated (DWI), drunk driving, operating while intoxicated (OWI), operating under the influence (OUI), operating vehicle under the infl ...

(DUI) and careless driving. He pleaded guilty in July and was fined 200 and had his driver's license revoked for six months. Rodriguez was later accused of filing inaccurate time cards while working part-time at UK HealthCare and was suspended for the first four games of the 2022 season for both incidents. Rodriguez scored a six-yard rushing touchdown with less than two minutes left in the

2022 Citrus Bowl The 2022 Citrus Bowl was a college football bowl game played on January 1, 2022, with kickoff at 1:00 p.m. EST and televised on ABC. It was the 76th edition of the Citrus Bowl, and was one of the 2021–22 bowl games concluding the 2021 FB ...

against the

Iowa Hawkeyes The Iowa Hawkeyes are the athletic teams that represent the University of Iowa, located in Iowa City, Iowa. The Hawkeyes have varsity teams in 22 sports, 8 for men and 14 for women; a 15th women's sport will be added in 2023. The teams partici ...

, helping Kentucky win 20–17. A two-time team captain, he graduated with a degree in community and leadership development in May 2022 and is second in Kentucky history in career rushing touchdowns and third in rushing yards.

Professional career

Washington Commanders

Rodriguez was selected by the Washington Commanders in the sixth round (193rd overall) of the

. He signed his four-year rookie contract on May 12, 2023.

2023

After a strong preseason, in which he averaged 7.4 yards per carry, he made the final

53-man roster The following terms are used in American football, both conventional and indoor. Some of these terms are also in use in Canadian football; for a list of terms unique to that code, see ''Glossary of Canadian football''. 0–9 ...

as the third running-back.

Personal life

Rodriguez is nicknamed C-Rod. His mother, Stephanie Thornton, died from

lupus Lupus, technically known as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), is an autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue in many parts of the body. Symptoms vary among people and may be mild to severe. Comm ...

in January 2022.

References

External links

*
Washington Commanders bio

Kentucky Wildcats bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodriguez Jr., Chris Living people American football running backs Kentucky Wildcats football players People from McDonough, Georgia Players of American football from Henry County, Georgia 2000 births Washington Commanders players