Former Germanna student Daniel Rodriguez wins Orange Bowl Courage Award at Clemson

DALLAS (FWAA) – Clemson's Daniel Rodriguez is the winner of the 2012 Discover Orange Bowl-FWAA Courage Award, as selected by a panel of FWAA members. Rodriguez, a redshirt freshman receiver from Stafford, Va., is playing for the Tigers after being awarded a Purple Heart and Bronze Star in Afghanistan.

Rodriguez, who was chosen from several deserving nominees in a vote by a committee of FWAA members, will be presented the award and recognized in conjunction with the 2013 Discover BCS National Championship Game on Jan. 7.

Rodriguez, 24, was wounded Oct. 3, 2009, during a battle near Kamdesh, Afghanistan, while serving in the U.S. Army. Combat Outpost Keating, in a mountainous region near the Pakistan border, was ambushed by nearly 300 Taliban insurgents. Eight Americans were killed; 22 were injured. Rodriguez was shot and wounded in the leg, neck and shoulder.

Once recovered and discharged from the military, Rodriguez kept a promise to his friend, Pfc. Kevin Thompson, who was killed during the initial moments of the attack. Rodriguez had told Thompson if he made it home from Afghanistan, he would find a way to play college football.

After enrolling at Germanna Community College, he began training for football. He sent a video of himself catching passes, spliced with video he'd shot during combat, to four-year schools. Clemson coach Dabo Swinney offered Rodriguez a spot on the team.

This Veterans Day, Germanna cheering for war hero who made his football dream come true

Clemson fans shake Daniel Roriguez' hand before a game.

This Veterans’ Day is a special one for former Germanna Community College and Brooke Point High School student Daniel Rodriguez.  

Rodriguez, who earned both a Bronze Star and Purple Heart while serving in the U.S. Army in Afghanistan, has seen a dream come true this fall. 

 He made the Clemson football team as a walk-on, and led the Tigers onto the field carrying an American flag prior to the team’s  Oct. 21, Military Appreciation Day win over Virginia Tech.

 Rodriguez’ fight was far from over after tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan that saw him wounded and decorated for valor.

He was a football star at Brooke Point in Stafford County, but he was too small for a football scholarship. His father suffered a heart attack and passed away four days after Daniel graduated. Without a scholarship or a father, he felt he couldn't afford college, so he enlisted in the Army.

 In Afghanistan, when his unit of 60 men came under attack by 300 Taliban, he saw a buddy shot in the head. Daniel exposed himself to enemy fire to help his friend and was shot in the shoulder and took shrapnel in both legs as he fought his way through the Taliban to reach him and drag him out of the line of fire. Then he realized his buddy was dead. 

MORE

Hundreds learn about Germanna and Dual Enrollment at College Tour event

Riverbend High School student Heather Aylesworth and her mother, Tina Harris, talk with Germanna's Canice Graziano about nursing and dual enrollment during College Tour night at Spotsylvania Towne Centre.


Sixteen-year-old Riverbend High School sophomore Heather Aylesworth may be too young to head off to college yet, but she's not too young to plan for the day she will.

Heather, who wants some day to be a pediatric nurse at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, plans to begin her nursing studies with the program at Germanna Community College.

Her mother, Tina Harris, says it'll be nice to have Heather at home early in her college career.

But even before she leaves Riverbend High, she'll be getting a head start toward that goal by earning college credit through Germanna's Dual Enrollment Program.

GCC Coordinator of Dual Enrollment Canice Graziano says Heather will be taking DE English Comp and DE Pre-Calculus to earn college credit at her high school.

"Because she's planning so early she'll be able to take advantage of earning up to 12 college credits at Riverbend," Graziano says.

Heather was one of 300 students who stopped by the Germanna table to pick up materials and ask questions and GCC was one of dozens of colleges to participate in the event.