For a brief while, perhaps only a moment or two, Rod Bernstine was my favorite pro player.
He was a running back at Texas A&M when right before his senior year coach Jackie Sherrill moved him to tight end. He was royally pissed off. So, naturally he earns second-team All-American honors at, well, tight end.
So, the San Diego Chargers drafted him as, well, a tight end because the All-America folks had to know something.
His first three years with the Chargers were almost exclusively as a solid tight end… but folks remembered him as a brutal Aggie running back–so, Rod was moved to running back. A six foot, three inch running back weighing nearly 240 pounds. He wasn’t smooth, nor was he graceful–but he was brutally efficient.
And, what caught my attention was that he wore #82… When he first signed as a tight end, that was his number–and the Chargers still had him listed as one. So, opponents and TV viewers watched as this man-mountain wearing a receiver’s jersey came rambling out of the backfield. To top it off, Rod still wore tight-end shoulder pads that made him look even bigger. He quickly became a curiosity–who was this guy, wearing #82? And he was a legit running back as he built up solid rushing yards for several years.
He was traded to the Broncos in 1993, where he was ‘officially’ a running back and #82 was not an option, thanks to the fun-haters at the NFL. Boo.
Now wearing #33, Bernstine had the best stats of his career in rushing yards AND receptions–but after two painful, injury-plagued seasons he retired.
All hail #82–my favorite, even if only for a moment.
Check out these highlights of Rod Bernstine
