Rams bring war hero in for a tryout

Before joining Clemson as a walk-on in 2012, Daniel Rodriguez spent four years in the U.S. Army, serving in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Rodriguez earned a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star for his heroism at the 2009 Battle of Kamdesh in Afghanistan, which left eight American soldiers dead and 22 others, including Rodriguez, wounded. He was hit by a bullet in his shoulder and struck with shrapnel in his leg and neck from a rocket-propelled grenade.

"I have friends without legs, so I don't really complain much," Rodriguez said Friday, according to Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Rodriguez played mostly on special teams during his four seasons at Clemson, catching 11 passes for 39 yards and a touchdown and returning six punts for 57 yards. He remembers speaking with some St. Louis Rams scouts during the Medal of Honor Bowl in January. A week ago, he received a call from the team inviting him to their rookie minicamp on a tryout basis.

"It's pretty surreal," Rodriguez said. "You kind of hope for an opportunity as a kid to say you got a chance to play in the NFL. For me it's no different, coming back for more (after his time in the Army) and having the opportunity to play Division I football. I just felt, why give up there? So I just kept working."

Rodriguez said he was vaguely aware of head coach Jeff Fisher's involvement in the Wounded Warrior Project before getting the call from the Rams, but has looked into it more since.

"I'm just so very appreciative from my standpoint of being a wounded veteran and having friends that are part of the Wounded Warrior program," Rodriguez said. "I think that’s awesome of him. To be in his position and to give back means a lot to me."

The Rams have yet to make it official, but according to an announcement on Rodriguez's Instagram account, the team signed the wide receiver to an undrafted free-agent contract Saturday.