One of the more unheralded members of the Minnesota Vikings’ defense. . .well, outside of our fan base, anyway. . .has been recognized by the National Football League in their weekly awards for Week 9.
Defensive lineman Levi Drake Rodriguez was named as one of the NFC’s Players of the Week, but not on the defensive side. He was actually named the NFC’s Special Teams Player of the Week for the role he played in the Vikings’ victory over Detroit on Sunday.
Rodriguez, a seventh-round pick of the Vikings in the 2024 NFL Draft out of Texas A&M-Commerce, got his hand on Jake Bates’ 45-yard field goal attempt in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s victory. The blocked kick was picked up by Isaiah Rodgers and returned into Detroit territory to set up a drive that, ultimately, provided the winning margin of victory. It was the first blocked field goal of Rodriguez’s career, and the first field goal attempt that Bates has had blocked.
Rodriguez is the ninth non-specialist in Vikings’ history to win the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week Award, and only the second defensive player to do so. He joins the following players:
- Moe Williams (1999)
- Aundrae Allison (2007)
- Percy Harvin (2009, 2010)
- Cordarrelle Patterson (2013)
- Adam Thielen (2014)
- Marcus Sherels (2015)
- Mike Boone (2020)
- Kene Nwangwu (2022, 2023)
This is the fifth time a member of the Vikings has won the Special Teams Player of the Week Award under current ST Coordinator Matt Daniels, with Rodriguez joining Greg Joseph (twice in 2022), Ryan Wright (2022), and Nwangwu (2022). He’s the third member of the Vikings to win a weekly award this season, joining J.J. McCarthy (NFC Offensive Player of the Week, Week 1) and Isaiah Rodgers (NFC Defensive Player of the Week, Week 3).
Congratulations to Levi Drake Rodriguez on being named the Week 9 NFC Special Teams Player of the Week!
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