Rodrigo Blankenship, the 2020 Arthur Ashe Jr. Male Sports Scholar of the Year, pays careful attention to details. University of Georgia (UGA) Director of Student Services Heather Jordan holds monthly meetings with the participants in the Student-Athlete Leadership Academy (LEAD), noting that in his final year, Blankenship was at the forefront.
“We called him the captain of LEAD,” says Jordan. “He is the one who takes meticulous notes and posts them for the group. Everyone knows that he’s the one you can count on to give you the information, to be present, to be asking really good questions.”
Blankenship, a place kicker, joined Georgia’s football team as a preferred walk-on and finished having made history. After redshirting his freshman year, he started to get some opportunities the following season. When special teams coordinator Scott Fountain arrived prior to Blankenship’s redshirt sophomore season, he needed to figure out who was the best place kicker on the team. To help evaluate, Fountain asked Blankenship and several others to come in on their own, watch tape and take notes on what they saw.
“We had some who would take notes, some would take no notes and then Rod would take every little detail notes,” says Fountain. Blankenship, who won the starter’s job and a scholarship, made sure Fountain brought the notes to the 2018 Rose Bowl, where he made a 55-yard field goal — a Rose Bowl record. A week later in the CFP Championship Game, Blankenship was perfect on three field goal tries, including a 51-yarder in overtime.
