Heavy breathing. Hands patting shoulders and tapping helmets. A bead of sweat rolls down the face of middle linebacker number 47. His mission had once again been completed, as he helped prevent the other team from scoring, and defended his team’s end zone. In just a short two years, however, his mission will be to defend something much larger: The United States and all of its citizens.
Rodolfo Payan, or Rudy as he is known to his friends, is a middle linebacker for the Concordia University Chicago Cougars. Three games, and three victories, into his junior year season, his mind has to begin to prepare for life after college. What lies in store post-graduation? For Payan, it means a service to his country through the Marines.
Payan has always wanted to be in the marines. His interested began as early as middle school when he first began to grow a love for history, namely World War II. He quickly found himself fascinated by the stories of the United States Marines, and their conquest across the Pacific Ocean during their fight with Japan. Tales of battles on the island of Okinawa painted pictures in young Rudy’s mind, while images such as the flag planting at Iwo Jima served to engrave the marines into his head. As he grew older, he knew that the marines was the only choice for him, and he had every intention of going straight to serving as soon as high school was finished. But then he received a phone call that changed his entire course of action: Coach Randy Awrey of Concordia University Chicago wanted him to play football for him.
Most kids begin to play sports when they are as young as six years old, starting in a “pee-wee” league, and working their way up to a varsity team, before heading off to high school. For Payan, his athletic career did not begin until the 7th grade.
“I wanted to start earlier. I wanted to join a team in the city league, but I was too shy to ask… I loved watching the big hits. My dad played soccer, but I said eh,” says Payan.
After a strong two years, Payan went to El Paso High School, where his football talents continued to soar. Not only had he found a love for the sport, but he found that he was skilled as well. He quickly became a key member of his team’s defense, and his dominance on the field attracted the attention of college recruits, including CUC. Upon arriving at Concordia, Payan quickly showcased those talents that had won the coaches over. His finesse in the pass coverage coupled with his monster strength led to him quickly becoming the second string defender under the powerhouse duo of A.J. Seidler and Sang Lee. By the end of his freshman year, Payan had cracked the starting lineup, rotating in with both Seidler and Lee. Now, in his junior year, Payan is both a leader on and off the field, with many of the underclassmen looking up to him.
Oftentimes football and the military seem to go hand in hand. The strict regimens, the men putting themselves on the line for a greater good, the powerful feeling of crushing your enemies; they seem like natural companions. Do they actually correlate as much as it seems however? When asked, he gave an interesting perspective to it.
“Football helps a little with training for the military, in things such as strength and some of the cardio, but it’s a whole new level. Coach Awrey helps since he is strict, but the marines is so much more. Then, to go from such a high level back down… it’s almost upsetting.”
The military, and the marines especially, train heavily for combat. They spend months perfecting their men before even thinking of deploying them anywhere, and the training they do is extremely rigorous. Football teams train for months in the offseason, but the bulk of the work comes in season, typically. These two different levels of training give him an advantage on the football field, as he is used to something much more difficult, and can easily adjust down. The reverse is not as true, however, and, although it is better that he has it, his football background does not make much of a difference at boot camp.
This does not stop him from playing, nor does it take away from his love of the game. He hopes to continue to have a great season this year, as well as to propel his team into a playoff run in the next two years. After that, he plans to ship off to the marines as an officer, and serve his six years. When asked if he wanted to stay in the military for the rest of his life, he laughed and replied, “I’m going to serve my six years and see where I’m at after that.”
The next time you head out to see a Cougar football game, and you see number 47 tear through the line and lay a big hit on the quarter back, do not be afraid to cheer an extra bit. That man, Rudy Payan, may just be protecting “the house” of the end zone today, but soon he will be out there protecting “the house” that is the entire United States.
