The youngsters Sports & Fitness Awards, which honor Latino youngsters who have made contributions to the sports and fitness industries, are exclusively sponsored by the NFL in collaboration with the Hispanic Heritage Foundation for the third year in a row.

This season, the 32 club markets of the NFL will recognize exceptional Latino youth football players with the Hispanic Heritage Fund, a partnership between the NFL and the Hispanic Heritage Foundation.

Football and the next generation of players and fans are the subject of the Hispanic Heritage Fund award, which honors Latino excellence. Rodriguez is a Gilroy, California, student-athlete at Christopher High School who has excelled both on and off the field. In addition to becoming the starting offensive lineman for the school’s football team, he has volunteered more than 100 hours and kept a 4.41 GPA.

“To be recognized as a grant award winner means so much to me,” Rodriguez stated. “Our town is full of folks that deserve this honor so much. Therefore, it’s incredible that I was selected to represent all of us.”

Rodriguez’s Mexican-American ancestry is fundamental to who he is. The student-athlete revealed that “a big part of who he is” is his culture.

“It’s the language I speak at home, it’s the music I listen to, the food I eat,” Rodriguez stated. “It’s my entire family around me that I know.”

Rodriguez, a senior in high school, has concentrated on pursuing higher education. His family’s history has motivated him to pursue his dream of studying engineering at a four-year university.