NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Former Vanderbilt quarterback Jordan Rodgers has had quite a professional career since playing his final game for the Commodores in 2012.
After a few seasons of professional football, Rodgers embarked upon a successful television career as a college football analyst. He also became a household name thanks to a winning run on the hit television show The Bachelorette in 2016. Now he can add being named one of the 100 greatest players in the history of Vanderbilt Stadium to his long list of accomplishments.
“That was never my goal. My goal was never to be one of the best. My goal was to win games and to develop friendships and to springboard my career,” Rodgers said. “But the names of guys that have gone through this program? It’s really special to see a lot of the guys that were on the teams that I was on. They were, really, a big turning point for the program and continue to be a source of inspiration.”
Rodgers, BA’12, will be back in Nashville this weekend as part of the SEC Network’s coverage of Vanderbilt’s showdown at 11 a.m. Saturday with No. 23 Wake Forest. The California native will be on set during SEC Nation’s live broadcast ahead of kickoff, will be an honorary captain for the game and will participate in the pregame coin toss.
During his 25 games for the Commodores in 2011 and 2012, Rodgers threw for 4,063 yards and completed 24 touchdown passes. As a senior in 2012, he threw for more than 2,500 yards while completing nearly 60 percent of his throws.
Vanderbilt went 9-4 that season and beat North Carolina State in the Music City Bowl.
“Vandy was amazing,” Rodgers said of his three-year career in Nashville. “The success that we had there and the friendships that I made, and then the degree and the ability to use that and to leverage Vanderbilt to do what I’m doing now is even more powerful and beneficial.”
While Rodgers doesn’t currently live in Nashville, he has purchased land in the area and plans on making Music City his permanent home in the near future. His brother, Luke Rodgers, lives in Nashville, too, so Jordan visits frequently.
During the summer, Rodgers often stopped by campus to speak with Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea, offensive coordinator Joey Lynch and others about the progress of the Commodores. The early results of that progress have been positive so far, with Vandy beating Hawai’i 63-10 and Elon 42-31.
Rodgers also said he has been pleased with Lea’s efforts and those of director of player personnel Earl Bennett as they have worked to get more former Commodores involved with the current team. Rodgers knows how much of an impact connecting the past and present can have on the future.
“Vandy’s unique. The guys that have had success here, not just in college, but have had success in their own individual careers going on after, they know the challenges. But they also know the benefit of Vandy and love it for the reasons and the identity that it is: the academics, the city,” Rodgers said. “I think it’s great because I don’t think it was like that for a good period of time. I think that’s one of the more important pieces is that these kids that say, ‘Hey, I want to sign up for this.’
“They can see guys that have had success, whether it’s because of the degree they got, because of the opportunity they got or because of their individual skill sets. I think it’s so important for these guys to see that there are those of us out here that want to support you. We did it. Here’s a little bit of our advice, or here’s a road map or here’s just a sounding board.”
— Chad Bishop covers Vanderbilt for VUCommodores.com.
Follow him @MrChadBishop.
