Rodrigo Blankenship

Rodrigo Blankenship
Blankenship in 2018
Georgia Bulldogs – No. 98
Position Placekicker
Class Redshirt Junior
Career history
College
Bowl games
High school Sprayberry High School
Personal information
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight 191 lb (87 kg)

Rodrigo Blankenship is an American football placekicker for the Georgia Bulldogs.[1] He is a redshirt junior. His nickname is "Hot Rod."[2][3] He has received considerable media attention for the thick glasses that he wears during games.[4][5]

Early life

Blankenship is from Marietta, Georgia.[6][7] After spending several years playing soccer, he began kicking footballs at ten years old.[2][6] Blankenship attended Sprayberry High School.[4][6] As a high schooler, he participated in the 2014–15 U.S. Army All-American Bowl.[8][9] He was ranked by 247sports.com as the ninth-best kicker in the country.[9]

College career

Blankenship entered Georgia in 2015 as a preferred walk-on and red-shirted his first year.[4] As a red-shirt freshman, Blankenship earned the starting kicker spot. During the 2016 season, Blankenship was 14-for-18 on field goals and 26-for-26 on extra points.[10] He led the team in scoring and was named to the All-SEC Freshman team.[4]

In 2017 – his redshirt sophomore season – Blankenship received a full athletic scholarship.[11][12] He informed the team of the positive news after Georgia's 20–19 victory over Notre Dame.[11] In the 2018 Rose Bowl, Blankenship made a record-long 55-yard field goal that proved pivotal in shifting the momentum away from Oklahoma, leading to Georgia's eventual 54–48 overtime victory.[4][11] In the 2018 College Football Playoff National Championship game against Alabama, Blankenship hit a 51-yard field goal in overtime to put the Bulldogs temporarily ahead.[13] However, Georgia ultimately lost the national championship game, 26–23.[14]

Blankenship finished the 2017 season having made 20 of his 23 field goal tries and all 63 extra points attempts.[10] By making 87 percent of his field goals attempts, Blankenship had the sixth-best season in school history.[13] His 67 touchbacks – a dramatic improvement over his 20 touchbacks in 2016 – were also a school record, and they came after he adjusted his technique on kickoffs.[13][15]

Personal life

Blankenship's father, Ken, played football at Florida from 1967 to 1969.[16]

On April 16, 2018, Blankenship released a rap song entitled "ATD."[17]

References

  1. ↑ Scott, Nate (2018-01-04). "Rodrigo Blankenship is the college football hero we need". SB Nation. Archived from the original on 2018-01-09.
  2. 1 2 Gartland, Dan (2018-01-08). "Five things to know about Rodrigo Blankenship". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on 2018-01-09.
  3. ↑ May, Jed (2016-11-09). "Rodrigo "Hot Rod" Blankenship enjoying newfound fame". The Red & Black. Archived from the original on 2018-01-11.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Patterson, Chip (2018-01-06). "Georgia football's title hopes may rest in the legs of a bespectacled former walk-on". CBS Sports. Archived from the original on 2018-01-09.
  5. ↑ Johnson, Jon (2018-01-06). "Georgia notebook: UGA kicker recognized for glasses as much as ability". Dothan Eagle. Retrieved 2018-01-11.
  6. 1 2 3 Busbee, Jay (2018-01-08). "The legend of Hot Rod: How Georgia's Rodrigo Blankenship became a star". Yahoo! Sports. Archived from the original on 2018-01-09.
  7. ↑ "Rodrigo Blankenship - 2016 Football Roster - University of Georgia". Georgia Bulldogs. Archived from the original on 2018-05-04.
  8. ↑ "Biography – Rodrigo Blankenship". www.rodrigoblankenship.com. Archived from the original on 2018-01-11.
  9. 1 2 Riley, Connor (2014-12-15). "Georgia adds kicker to its 2015 recruiting class". The Red & Black. Archived from the original on 2018-01-11.
  10. 1 2 "Rodrigo Blankenship College Stats". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved 2018-01-12.
  11. 1 2 3 Cox, Joe (2018-01-06). "Walk-on to walking on air: Why Rodrigo Blankenship is Georgia's most unlikely hero". Saturday Down South. Archived from the original on 2018-01-11.
  12. ↑ Berg, Nathan (2018-01-09). "Kicker Rodrigo Blankenship shines in national title loss". The Red & Black. Archived from the original on 2018-01-11.
  13. 1 2 3 Butt, Jason (2018-03-28). "This UGA player passed the eye test in 2017. Numbers show just how good a season he had". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2018-04-20.
  14. ↑ Waldstein, David (2018-01-09). "Alabama Wins National Championship With a Halftime Twist". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-04-20.
  15. ↑ Butt, Jason (2017-09-04). "Blankenship changes approach, booms kicks for touchbacks". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2018-04-20.
  16. ↑ Gearhart, Sarah (2014-11-18). "U.S. Army All-American Bowl spotlight: Rodrigo Blankenship". USA Today High School Sports. Archived from the original on 2018-04-20.
  17. ↑ Culpepper, JuliaKate E. (2018-04-17). "Georgia kicker Rodrigo 'Blanko' Blankenship releases rap 'ATD'". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Archived from the original on 2018-04-20.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.