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Former Wildcat Rodgers earns
new car with essay, aims for Olympics next
By Al Pickett
Reporter-News Staff Writer
In the last several weeks, Trafton Rodgers
has received a new car, an offer to appear in a movie and a modeling
contract.
Can it get any better than this?
Yes, as a matter of fact, it can.
A trip to Sydney, Australia, as a member
of the U.S. Olympic team would be a fitting climax to what has
already been an exhilarating month of July for the former Abilene
Christian University track star, the 1997 NCAA Division II national
champion in the decathlon.
Rodgers, 28, begins his quest for a trip
Down Under a week from today when he and former ACU teammate
Stephen Moore compete in the decathlon at the U.S. Track and
Field Trials in Sacramento, Calif.
“I feel real confident,” Rodgers
said. “I went out to Arizona last month and ran several
meets and tried to sharpen up. I’m throwing better in the
shot put and discus than I ever have. But anyone can make the
team. After attending a decathlon camp in Florida (with many
of the nation’s top decathletes), I think Stephen and I
could very well be on the team. I think we’re both in the
top five, and the top five guys will be battling for three spots
on the team.”
New car
The month of July is only 13 days old,
but it has already become a month that Rodgers will never forget.
It’s a month that could change his life, especially if he
wins a spot on the U.S. Olympic team.
Rodgers’ recent good fortune began
when he entered a contest for a new car. General Motors made
100 new cars to be given to U.S. athletes as part of its “Team
Behind A Team” program. More than 1,000 American athletes
in all sports applied.
“It’s like a lottery,” Rodgers
said. “They sent me the paperwork, and I wrote an essay
on why I should receive a car. It’s a good thing I majored
in broadcasting. They asked about my finances on another sheet.”
Rodgers said a committee of elite former
athletes, including Carl Lewis and Evelyn Ashford, selected the
100 winners.
“I got a call from Team Behind The
Team,” Rodgers said. “I got a 2000 GTP Grand Prix.
It’s one of only 12 made. I picked it up Saturday.”
Rodgers calls his new car “a blessing.”
That’s understandable for someone who hasn’t owned
a car in four years.
“When I came to ACU, my old car had
over 100,000 miles on it,” he said. “I figured it would
cost me more to drive it to Abilene (from his home in Akron,
Ohio) than it would to fly. So I gave it away.”
Rodgers spent two years at ACU without
a car. He now lives in Lubbock where he is training under former
ACU and current Texas Tech head track coach Wes Kittley and his
staff. A friend who owns a used car lot in Lubbock lets Rodgers
borrow a car when he needs it.
No more, however.
Wait, there’s more
A new car isn’t the only good fortune
befalling Rodgers recently.
“So many doors have opened,”
Rodgers said, shaking his head in amazement.
While shooting some commercials for General
Motors, he was offered a movie deal in a horror movie. And in
the last week he has signed a contract with a modeling agency
and a contract with Roger Staubach’s Personalities company
to represent him.
“You train so hard for two years,
and anything can happen in two days,” Rodgers said, “but
look at all the doors that have opened since I came to ACU. I
got deeper into my religion by going to ACU, and I’ve made
friendships for life. If I don’t make the team, I’ll
try again.
“You wonder how things will fall into
place, but they will. I used to complain, but the Lord has made
it so I can’t complain anymore. Everyone wants a gold medal,
but that doesn’t help you when you have problems. I’m
so appreciative of things I’ve got.
“I think I was sent here. My coaches
are great mentors, and that’s why I’m loyal to them.”
ACU by accident
Most track athletes come to ACU because
of the national reputation of its successful track program that
owns 45 national championships, more than any other school.
But not Rodgers.
“I had no clue,” he said.
Rodgers started his collegiate career at
the University of Toledo. But he sat out 2 1/2 years because
of what he called “family problems.” He returned to
Toledo in 1995 and made all-American in the decathlon.
But under NCAA Division I rules, an athlete
has five years to complete his eight semesters of eligibility,
regardless of whether or not he has been in school. So Rodgers,
who still had two years of eligibility remaining, was no longer
eligible to compete at Division I Toledo.
In Division II, however, that rule doesn’t
apply.
“So my coach (at Toledo) started looking
around for a school for me to transfer,” he said. “Most
schools said they had already spent all their scholarship money,
so ACU was really the only school to offer me a scholarship.
It was a no-brainer.”
He paid dividends for the Wildcats immediately.
Rodgers had a 400-point lead in the decathlon at the 1996 NCAA
Division II meet before he no-heighted in the pole vault. Clearing
any height at all would have given him the national championship,
but getting no points in the event meant he dropped to fifth
and Moore won the national title.
Rodgers, however, came back to claim the
national championship in 1997.
“It was a whole new world at ACU,”
Rodgers said. “I had never trained hard. I learned at ACU
that all great athletes train hard. I wasn’t used to the
workouts we had at ACU. But once I finally got on the page, things
turned around dramatically.”
Since college, he won the decathlon at
the 1998 U.S. vs. Germany meet and the national championship
in the indoor heptathlon at the Georgia Dome.
Looking ahead
Rodgers’ personal best is 8,128 points
in the decathlon, but Rodgers is quick to point out that was
without any “PRs” (personal records in any of the 10
events).
He thinks it will take 8,400 to 8,600 points
to make the U.S. Olympic team.
Rodgers’ personal bests are 10.30
in the 100, 25-4 in the long jump, 50-0 in the shot put, 7-1¦
in the high jump, 47.76 in the 400, 13.91 in the 110 hurdles,
165-0 in the discus, 17-4 in the pole vault, 196-0 in the javelin
and 4:50 in the 1,500 meters.
He hopes to better those totals next week
in Sacramento.
If he does, that new car would have to
sit in the garage while he flies to Australia.
“I sure wouldn’t mind parking
it,” Rodgers said.
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The winning letter
(EDITOR’S NOTE: Here is the letter
that former Abilene Christian University track athlete Trafton
Rodgers wrote to General Motors’ “Team Behind The Team”
program. Because of the letter, Rodgers received one of 100 new
cars that General Motors donated to U.S. athletes. More than
1,000 athletes in all sports applied to the GM program.)
My name is Trafton D. Rodgers, U.S. decathlete.
Because I am good at many events and not great in one particular
event, I enjoy competing in the decathlon. I would like to thank
you all for your support and efforts to help make track and field,
in the United States, once more recognizable as a true sport.
The program that General Motors has introduced is a blessing
to many athletes in need of additional assistance.
As one of the top decathletes in the United
States, I have made less than $18,000 over the last three years.
Without the VISA Decathlon Team, my earnings would have been
even less. As of July 1999, the VISA program has been discontinued.
Although I have another job, training for the Decathlon takes
six to eight hours a day for five to six days a week, which makes
it very challenging to work a full-time job and compete successfully.
Since I do not participate in one specialized
event, like someone that runs the 100, long jumps or competes
in any of the open events, I do not get to compete as often.
Because of the limited opportunities I do get in Europe to compete,
most of my financial earnings rely heavily upon my job.
Also, as a decathlete I must carry a lot
of equipment: shot puts, javelins, vaulting poles and the shoes
required to participate in each of the decathlon’s 10 events.
Getting to and from the stadium to train, as well as to and from
the airport to travel is difficult, since I do not own a vehicle
of my own.
One cannot become “The Greatest Athlete
in the World” without a price. Training for the decathlon
is the price that I choose to pay. The work that I have put in
to be competitive is difficult, however, it is endurable because
I love the sport and the event. If chosen as one of the members
of the General Motors program, I will represent the program by
working hard towards the program’s success and its growth
in the future. Once again, I would like to thank you for this
opportunity and I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Trafton D. Rodgers
U.S. Decathlete
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