Bachelorette: Rodney Mathews’ Football Career Explained

Several former athletes have been cast on Michelle Young’s season of The Bachelorette, and fans are curious to learn more about football player Rodney Mathews. After not finding love on Matt James’ season of The Bachelor, Michelle remained a fan-favorite for Bachelor Nation fans who got to know her on the show. As a result, she was announced as one of two Bachelorette leads for 2021 seasons along with Katie Thurston. Katie’s season aired first in the summer, whereas Michelle’s season premiered in the fall.

This week, Michelle got to meet as many as 30 men vying for her love during the first episode of The Bachelorette season 18. Seven contestants were promptly sent home on night one, but there are still 23 men who managed to make a good enough first impression. While certain cast members definitely stood out in the first episode, Bachelor Nation knows that things can always change over the course of a season. In fact, even Michelle didn’t come into The Bachelor season 25 on day one, but she still finished the season as Matt’s runner-up.

At 29 years old, Rodney Mathews was introduced to Michelle and Bachelor Nation as a whole as a sales representative from Rancho Cucamonga, California. However, Rodney also happens to be a former football player from his time in school. For instance, Rodney was listed in the 2010 football roster for Abilene Christian University as a 6’0″, 190 lbs. defensive back. Moreover, the official website for California State University in Fresno also listed Rodney as a safety in the team’s 2014 roster. On Instagram, Rodney has plenty of pictures from his days playing football, as well as more recent photos where he appears to be coaching a team.

Bachelor Nation first saw Rodney dressed as an apple on The Bachelorette during the premiere episode. Given that Michelle is a teacher, dressing as an apple felt like an appropriate night-one visual shtick to get her attention. However, Michelle did call out Rodney later in the episode when he didn’t know specific names for apples. One can assume that Michelle has received many apples from her students over the years, so she was able to name several red apples that Rodney could’ve referenced in their interaction. Nonetheless, he still got a rose at the end of the night, so he clearly made a good enough impression on Michelle.

Aside from Rodney’s lack of knowledge when it comes to specific names for apples, he had a very endearing night-one introduction that caught Michelle’s attention but didn’t overwhelm her. Things are looking good for Rodney on the show, but week one is still too early for bets to be placed on any contestant. We shall find out how far Mr. Apple gets once the weeks go by.

The Bachelorette season 18 airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.

Sources: Rodney Mathews/Instagram, Abilene Christian University, California State University

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Bernardo Sim
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Bernardo Sim writes about TV shows, queer culture, & Brazilian media. Born and raised in the Amazon, he now lives in South Florida. he/him

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