Back in 2005, I remember an interview I listened to with former Texas Tech Quarterback Cody Hodges. He played QB at Tech from 2001-2005. He was from Hereford, a local guy and had a storied high school career, but he was now moving into his Senior year after Texas Tech had left the middle of the Big 12 and now had become a top 3-4 team in the Big 12. He knew the pressure and when he was asked by a radio interviewer what he learned since being in Lubbock he said this timeless truth; “It’s a lot easier to be a backup quarterback than the starter.”

He went on to talk about how when he got Lubbock, if Kliff Kingsbury was having a bad game, the crowd called for BJ Symons. When Kingsbury graduated and Symons took over, if Symons threw too many interceptions, the crowd was calling for Sonny Cumbie, a walk on from nearby Synder. When Cumbie took over and Tech wasn’t scoring enough points, the crowed boo’ed and said Hodges needed to come in, and Hodges said when he was named starter, he knew it was coming. He would have that ineffective drive, or quarter, or half, or game, and with Tech having signed arguably the best HIgh School Quarterback in Texas at that time in Graham Harrell, the crowd would be chanting to give them Harrell. And on and on it goes.

Everyone loves the backup until they become the starter.

Eric Rodriguez knows this as well as anyone.

This past week, we found out that Eric Rodriguez had won the job for the first time out of fall camp and would start against Mercer. It was a long time coming. ESPN tried their best to sum up E-Rod’s career in Commerce, but let’s take a look back.

Rodriguez was an absolutely outstanding player in high school. These were his accolades-

District 20-6A MVP

Houston Area Offensive Player of the Year

MaxPreps/USA Player of the Year for Southwest Region

Houston All-VYPE Team

Ford Tough Texas Player of the Year Finalist

Houston (Fox 26) Player of the Week

Lone Star Country Player of the Year Finalist

Texas High School Football Player of the Week

Team Captain, Travis High MVP –

Led Fort Bend Travis to a 10-0 Regular Season and a District Championship.

Offered by 11 other schools in all three NCAA divisions.

Not bad, right?

Now, here is something you don’t know. Prior to the 2020 Spring Game (or actually Fall Game), Russ and I were chatting with some people in the know. We had heard David Bailiff had picked up a gem QB that could run the offense he had implemented, we just had no idea how good he was. At that time, ET had just come off a 2019 NCAA DII National Quarterfinalist Run and was preseason ranked 5th in the country and had everyone coming back, and Miklo Smalls was the darkhorse to win the Harlon Hill Award after an amazing 2019 season. A player, now graduated comes up to chat with us in the press box and says “Y’all don’t worry about Miklo. If he goes down, we got this freshman from Houston…..we call him E-Rod, he can run the offense just like Miklo. He’s not going to be as effective, but he’s the future. So watch out.”

So, Rodriguez graduates high school in 2020 and then…..

2020- Not Football. COVID Pandemic. Redshirt granted all NCAA players. No chances for meaningful reps until the aftermentioned spring game, but no games to observe and learn from, even as a redshirt.

2021-Miklo Smalls blows out his knee and will miss at least the first 4-5 games. Ja’ive Magalei transfers from Louisiana-Lafeyette and Rodriguez competes well, but Magalei wins the job with Rodriguez as backup. Magalei is somewhat ineffective, and in the second game of the season against a hated Midwestern State team, Rodriguez plays well to get the Lions down into Midwestern State Territory and barely within Jake Viquez’s range to win the game, but rather than going with the better chance, E-Rod is sent out to toss a hail mary but it falls incomplete and Lion hearts are broken. Magalei returns and the Lions are 3-2, but Smalls comes back and is clearly not ready and basically playing on one knee, taking away his explosiveness and what made him the next big thing. The Lion offensive staff rotates between Smalls, Magalei, and Rodriguez, who plays in 7 games, and throws for 83 yards on 24 attempts for the year. The entire season is considered a disappointment as the announced move to Division I serves as a distraction and the incredibly talented Senior class leaves Commerce without a conference title and no chance at a national title, not making the postseason for the first time since 2013.

2022-News breaks that that then Texas A&M-Commerce is starting their foree into Division I short on cash, scholarships, facilities, and competence at the top, but that is another rant. However, this draws players to Commerce, and one is from Ohio State named Jagger LaRoe. A high school standout who walked on at Texas A&M first before moving to Ohio State, his highlights make him look like Wade Wilson, Bob Bounds, and Luis Perez all rolled into one perfect specimin. The excitement is there, but in the first game against Lincoln University, LaRoe is ineffective, and E-Rod runs to the rescue, looking like the guy who should have started from the first second and is named starter. Then, next week, disaster strikes. Rodriguez is running wild over a Tennessee Tech team in the first FCS game out of conference, when what looks like a trip turns into a devestating injury on the ankle. The Lions drop a 20 point lead and lose the game at the last second. LaRoe quits the team, and the The Lions have to take a trip to Huntsville to face Sam Houston, where they play to a 10 point loss. After steamrolling North American, Rodriguez returns and delivers masterful wins over McNeese, Southeastern, and Houston Christian, and before you know it, the Lions are 5-2 overall and 3-0 in Southland Play. However, Incarnate Word comes to town and the injury Rodriguez has been playing with catches up to him, and his season is over. Lions have their first losing season in a decade.

2023-Rodriguez’s injury is worse than it was thought. He has surgery and spends the entire season rehabbing it. The Lions play 6 quarterbacks in that season.

2024-Ron Peace, a former All-State player at Malakoff and All-Conference JUCO player at Trinity Valley comes in to take a shot at the quarterback position. However, Rodriguez starts the season and he and Peace share reps for part of the season, but Rodriguez is the guy for the start, but is replaced by Peace. Once again, he has the rug pulled from under him, but it would not last long, as he only plays in 4 games before being injured yet again. Peace takes over and it looks like he is the uncontested starter going into 2025.

2025-This time the roles are swapped and Rodriguez comes back healthy and Peace has injured his foot to start the season. Rodriguez shows his toughness and ability to lead and it would be He and Peace battling for reps, and this time, Rodriguez shows he is the guy to run this thing. Down two scores to Incarnate Word, he comes into the game and puts the nail in the coffin of Incarnate Word in the second biggest win in the Division I era and still has to fend off another Senior in Will Madonna. Peace comes back, but it is obvious E-Rod is the guy who will give you the best chance to win. Peace leaves the program before the season ends, and Rodriguez delivers a huge game in defeating Houston Christian to send the Seniors off for their final home game.

2026- Starting his 7th season, once again Rodriguez has to fend off competition from new faces, and this time wins the job with no competition. This is now his team, sink or swim.

Which leads me to Saturday night. I went from “I just don’t want us to get blown out” to “Here we go again” to “Ok, this is respectable” to “Oh My gosh, WE ARE GOING TO WIN THIS GAME!” After the first half, the cries to bench Rodriguez and put someone else, anyone else were loud and could be heard from Texas to Georgia, however, there has been one man that has stuck by E-Rod, and that is his Head Coach and Offensive Coordinator in Clint Dolezel. After the Lions came back out of the locker room, Dolezel told him to forget about the past drives and keep swinging, and lead the team like he is capabale of.

Before you know it, 23-0 was 23-15 with under 2 minutes to go and The Lions driving, and it all came down to 4th and goal. You saw E-Rod get more confident with his throws, make beautiful downfield passes, and run like he did so well early in his career. The final pass was just a tad bit too high, but enough to scare the 17th ranked team in the country and a preseason FCS title contender. (that is yet to be truly be determined)

One thing I really admire about E-Rod is that in this transfer portal era, he could have transferred to a program that was established in FCS or a major DII program that were title contenders, but he didn’t. The loyalty he has for the ET program really shows his character. He isn’t interested in taking shortcuts, he wants to win, and do it here. That is something we have had such little of. Commerce is not a stepping stone for E-Rod, it is his cornerstone, and as a two time alum, that means a lot to me. I’m rooting for this guy for that reason among others.

I’m sure this won’t convince everyone that Rodriguez should be the guy behind center, and that is OK. Everyone has their right to have their opinion and not be hammered for it. Things might change and there might be some games where he might not be the guy to play and win it, but NEVER count this guy out. The one thing that also impresses me is how loyal he has been but still knows when maybe its not his night, he stays on the sidelines to support his teammates, and thats why they love him. He is a leader whether he is taking snaps or not.

Remember this, everytime he steps on that field, he has the pressure of being a quarterback for a program that has had many a great signal caller. Wilson, Perez, Bounds, Dolezel, Rollison, Stewart, Stooksberry, McCord, Fox, Davis, Grey, Hitt, Kirkland, Cureton, Mackey, Skinner, Cayce, Wilson, Smalls, the list goes on and on.

He also knows how demanding the fan base is and knows there is only so much he can control. He also knows there are the Sunday morning quarterbacks like Me and tons of others out there, but he knows he can do it, and he is coached by a guy who knows to handle that pressure and knows how real it is.

Being Eric Rodriguez isn’t easy, but striving for greatness never is.

Doing the right thing the right way is never easy, but Eric Rodriguez does it anyway.

And he handles it as well as anyone can, easy or not.