Rodney Johnson
8K posts
@TRINSPIRATION
Co-author of “Shadows of Betrayal” a fictional look at the 2024 election. What happens when a Democratic senator challenges the incumbent D president?
BREAKING: The #Chiefs are running it all the way back. Tyreek Hill will be signing with the team in the coming days and Travis Kelce will hold off retirement until next year and return to the team. Incredible that Mahomes was able to pull this off. They’re back 🔥
Did anybody else ever read Mad Magazine growing up? 🤣
Name an athlete whose arrival changed everything for a franchise.
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Elvis and I? We were real friends. Back when both our careers were just getting started, someone asked Elvis if there were any male singers he liked. He said, “Pat Boone. Pat Boone is the best ballad singer of ‘em all.” That meant the world to me. When he came by our house on Sundays, with the whole Boone family out by the pool, he wasn’t Elvis the superstar. He was just a friend. And I think, deep down, he wanted a little of the quiet family life he saw in our backyard. I never envied Elvis. I loved him. And I’ll always be grateful for his friendship. #ElvisPresley #RealFriendship #GoldenMemories #PatBooneStories #RocknRollHistory
Fernando Mendoza was born for late night television
130 schools said no. He led the losingest program in college football history to a national championship anyway. Fernando Mendoza was a 2-star recruit from Miami. He tried to walk on at his hometown school. They passed. So did FIU. So did FAU. So did everyone else. At 17, he was sitting in his bedroom, crying over a silent recruiting inbox—after driving to 18 camps with his dad and sending highlights to more than 100 programs. Not one FBS offer. His only option? Yale. No scholarship. No NFL path. Everyone told him to be “realistic.” “Know your place.” “Be grateful.” He didn’t listen. Because Mendoza understood something most people miss: The worst outcome isn’t failing. It’s never getting the chance to try. Two weeks before signing day in 2022, his phone rang. Cal needed a body. One offer. Out of 134 schools. He took it. He arrived as the third-string quarterback. Spent a year on the scout team. Lost his first four starts. Got sacked 41 times behind a broken offensive line. Still got up. Every time. Then Cal brought in a transfer instead of building around him. So Mendoza left the only school that had ever said yes. He transferred to Indiana—the losingest program in college football history. People laughed. “Career suicide.” “Graveyard program.” “Nobody wins there.” One coach told him something different: “I’m going to make you the best Fernando Mendoza possible.” That was enough. Mendoza wasn’t just playing for football. His mother has battled multiple sclerosis for 18 years. Before every snap, he thought of her. “My mother is my why.” Indiana went 16–0. Beat six Top-10 teams. Won their first Big Ten title since 1945. Mendoza threw 41 touchdowns. Won the Heisman—first in school history. First Cuban-American to ever do it. Then came the title game. Miami. Near his hometown. Fourth-and-4. Season on the line. Quarterback draw. The kid 134 schools rejected spun through defenders and dove into the end zone. Game over. Indiana—national champions. The losingest program became the best team in America. All because a 17-year-old refused to believe “no” was the end. Rankings don’t decide your ceiling. Gatekeepers don’t write your ending. Being overlooked isn’t a verdict—it’s a starting point. Sometimes all you need is one shot… and the courage to bet on yourself when nobody else will. Don’t quit. Credit: Barclay Mullins
