Aggie Flashback with former A&M TE Rod Bernstine

Key quotes from Rod Bernstine interview

“Me and Jackie Sherrill went back and forth on the moving me to the tight end position, but he’s the guy that if he tells you what he wants, you have to do it. At the time, it was one of those situations where I said, ‘Alright, coach. I’m going to go in and fight for that job.’ It all worked out.”

“I started at running back my freshman year and played every game. My second year, I came back and Thomas Sanders came back off a neck injury and he was a really fast football player, great athlete. He won the position back and we went through me being second, then third and we started getting Anthony Toney and Roger Vick and I was just falling down the depth chart, slowly but surely. I think it was at the end of that season that Coach Sherrill asked me what I thought about switching to tight end.”

"Beginning of my junior year is when the actual switch took place and it was Rich Siler and Duncan Webb in front of me. Siler was more of a receiver but Webb was just a blocking tight end. I didn’t know much about blocking, but I gradually picked it up over the years. Catching the ball and having some running ability set me apart from other guys at the position.”

“Any time you go to a high school and there has already been a really accomplished player, I remember watching Curtis Dickey at Cleveland and Indianapolis and knowing I was never going to be as fast as him. But I always strived to be the best. Even being number 37 on this list, I always think of myself as being number one in anything I do. To be number 37 on the list is a great honor for an athlete that hasn’t been around for thirty years, but I always think of myself as the best Texas A&M football player to come through there. If you don’t feel like you’re going to be the best, I don’t think you’ll ever have the ability to be the best. I tell my son that you have to train to be the best, think you’re the best and it will come. Now I’m fifty years old and we have had two Heisman trophy winners, so I know they have to be better.”

“Coach Sherrill and I have a bond. At the time, it was a close-knit group we had and he had a lot of players that fit in the scheme and the things he was trying to teach us. I think I was one of the leaders at the time and he was able to carry it on for years after me. But, I think he looked up to me and I shared that mutual respect with him.”

“Going into my rookie year in the NFL, I tore my knee up as a tight end and they didn’t want to put me on the line to get me injured again because I came back quickly. At the time, I think they wanted me to play multiple positions so they used me at running back, flex receiver, basically anything they could do to keep me out of contact. Because of that, I learned a lot more than I would have as just a tight end.”

“When I watch some of the plays they are running at A&M now and see how many guys are wide open, I think playing here now would have been wonderful. I know a linebacker couldn’t cover me and a safety would have had trouble.”

“In 1986, Jackie could have afforded to slam a few Rolex's at the time. I remember the game pretty vividly. I remember us getting down and Coach Sherrill giving his speech and me gathering the offensive guys up and letting them know that we were never out of a game and that we had practiced and prepared, so let’s not let the Baylor Bears come in and change things. We prepared every week and I didn’t think Baylor was the team to knock us off.”

“While being recruited, I took a couple of trips around Texas and also took a trip to the University of Colorado. After seeing all the universities, I felt like A&M and the environment would suit me fine. It’s always tough when a kid tries to stay at home and all the avenues you have to deal with, but I always made sure I was focused in the classroom and on the field.”

“I wouldn’t say Jackie was just a player’s coach. He was a wonderful guy, but he was almost like everyone’s dad, we all feared him, but we all respected him. If Jackie called me today, I’d handle myself the same way as I did when I was 19. Yes sir, no sir. A lot of people don’t understand that, but as an athlete growing up, you only respect a few people because of our egos and feel like we can do everything. He brought in a speaker that had this rope and we each cut a piece and that was our bond. It was one rope, but we each had a piece. I remember having that rope in my sock during game days and that was me buying into Coach Sherrill and we all believed that. There was a lot of trust and we always knew he was in our corner.”