Mother-son bond strong at UTEP

By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

Texas-El Paso linebacker Robert Rodriguez realizes he is fortunate to have a parent who introduced him to football at a young age, ran pass routes for him in a park and encouraged him to join the neighborhood youth teams.

Rodriguez

His father, John, who worked in the El Paso Sheriff's Department, also was supportive of his son. But it was his mother, Yvonne, who "instilled that passion in the game for me," Robert said. "My mom took me to football games as long as I can remember. She's a big football fan. She encouraged me to play."

Yvonne, who works as a physical education teacher at Mission Valley Elementary School, said Robert was drawn to football as a toddler.

"I have a picture of when he was 18 months old, holding a little plastic football," Yvonne recalled. "We would go in the yard and under-hand him the ball. He would run with his tiny little steps."

When Robert was about 4, he received a Dallas Cowboy uniform from Yvonne's sister. John and Yvonne took Robert to UTEP and local high school football games. "He seemed to get all of the plays," Yvonne said. "My husband was so surprised. He said, 'How does he know all of this? He's only 4.' "

Yvonne's mother, Delia Arrieta, also was helpful. "My mom was always teaching him where to put his fingers on the football," Yvonne said. "She taught him how to throw a spiral."

The Rodriguez home had a large "play" room. Robert, clutching a football, would run from wall to wall. "My other sons would make noise to pretend they were the crowd," Yvonne said.

Yvonne and John cheered Robert as he ascended from a standout four-sport letterman in high school to one of UTEP's top defensive players. Yvonne has attended every UTEP home game. For road games, she listens on the radio or scrambles to find a satellite feed of the telecast.

His grandmother also attended all of his high school events. Even as her health slipped during his freshman year at UTEP, Arrieta watched her grandson on television. "From T-ball to high school, she was always there," Yvonne said.

Arrieta died in January 2001. "She gave him a lot of words of encouragement," Yvonne said.

Arrieta taught Robert about "paying it forward" — taking a blessing and then doing someone else a favor.

"He knew that when he was young, others always helped and supported him," Yvonne said. "I told him people are now looking up to him. He has an obligation to be a role model for others."

In El Paso, with its large Hispanic population, Robert is a popular figure. While acknowledging there are few Hispanic standouts in college football, Robert said, "all I can be is me. I'm just a member of this team. My whole deal is to be the best athlete I can be. My mom raised me to be a gentle person but a tough competitor. I try to be a good person off the field, but a competitor on it."

This season, the 6-foot-1, 230-pound Rodriguez is second among Western Athletic Conference players with 9.4 tackles per game. In five games, eight of his 47 tackles have been in an opposing team's backfield.

UTEP coach Mike Price praised Rodriguez as being one of the team leaders.

"I'm trying to enjoy the moment," said Rodriguez, a senior. "I feel very fortunate to be a college football player. I try to savor the moment."

Yvonne said she tried to keep her son humble by requiring him to work during high school and UTEP's offseason. He sorted books in a local high school that didn't have a computer system and worked at the Golden Corral restaurant.

"The bread rolls are awesome there," he said. "Dude, they taste so great. The worst part about working there is they didn't give you any food. I worked around food all day and I couldn't eat any of it.

"We had to sneak food out. We had to give the chef a couple of bucks to make some food for us. We'd sneak some food to the back, where the drink fountain was, and we'd squat down and try to stuff ourselves really quick. Working there taught me about discipline. It also gave me money to buy clothes."

Yvonne said: "Nothing was given to him. He had house chores. He would take care of his brothers. He worked. He earned his way to where he's at. He's been a great son. All of my sons are good. I wish every mom had kids like I do."

Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8051.

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