Chris Rodriguez says Kentucky Football is finally free of "vampires"

Kentucky Football has steadily improved during the Mark Stoops era, but star running back Chris Rodriguez believes the Cats are truly ready to rise now that they’ve shed some bad baggage. During an interview on Pro Football Focus’ 2 for 1 Drafts podcast, Rodriguez said the program was plagued by “vampires” when he joined in 2018, but now, everyone is on the same page as they try reach their goal of the SEC Championship game in Atlanta.

“It has changed a lot,” Rodriguez said of the culture around the program. “When I first got here, you could tell everybody was clued in. Over the past few years, everybody has started to come together. At first, we had a lot of people that were doing it, but we had a lot of people we called vampires, where they just sucked the blood out of the team. Like they don’t really want to practice, they don’t care to be there. Even if they’re not playing, like scout team guys, they’re like, ‘I don’t like coming to practice. We don’t do nothing.’

“Now, it’s like everybody wants to be there, everybody wants to help make the team get better because everybody’s trying to get to Atlanta. That’s one of the main things I can really say about the culture around the Kentucky facility.”

Hmm. Rodriguez also talks about his relationship with Benny Snell and Lynn Bowden, and his goals for the 2021 season. In short, the self-described “anvil on wheels” is going to do everything he can to get the Cats to Atlanta.

“What separates me from everybody else is, it’s not gonna be just one dude that hits me and he’s not going to take me down. And if it does happen, it’s not going to happen often. Every time somebody hits me, I’m trying to run through them and I’m going straight to the goal line. That’s my goal every time I get the ball.”

You can hear the interview below starting at the 59:18 mark or listen on Apple Podcasts.