Commanders RB Chris Rodriguez Jr. Already Familiar with Teammate Antonio Gibson

Chris Rodriguez Jr. and Antonio Gibson went to high school in the same city. Now, the two are teammates playing for the Washington Commanders.

When the Washington Commanders rookie class meets up with the rest of the veterans, rookie Chris Rodriguez Jr. will already know one of his teammates ... and it's someone he'll be expected to work with frequently.

Rodriguez, a sixth-round pick from Kentucky, grew up in McDonough, Ga., the same city as his running back room-mate Antonio Gibson. Rodriguez remembers playing Gibson's team during his freshman year of high school back in 2015.

“AG, he was a senior when I was a freshman," Rodriguez said. "I looked up to him kind of, I would say when I was a freshman because when we played him, he was the guy on their team. He was one of those guys from my hometown that I followed. I don't keep in touch with him, but I watch everything he does if he knows it or not.”

Gibson was named the Henry Daily Herald's Offensive Player of the Year that season and found his way to Washington in the 2020 NFL Draft. Now, Rodriguez finds it surreal that one of his rivals is now his teammate.

“Who would've thought that I would be playing with him, especially when I was younger watching him destroy us," Rodriguez said. "I mean, my team wasn't that good. They were extremely good, but no, watch him destroy us. Who would've ever thought that I would be playing next to him?”

Now, instead of watching Gibson destroy his team, Rodriguez can do some damage alongside him.

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