Former Auburn wide receiver Prechae Rodriguez is the Arena Football League’s Russell Athletic Offensive Player of the Week after helping the Pittsburgh Power defeat the Philadelphia Soul 57-56 on Saturday. The league announced the honor on Tuesday.
At Auburn from 2005 through 2007, Rodriguez caught 38 passes for 530 yards and two touchdowns. Against the Soul on Saturday, Rodriguez caught 13 passes for 144 yards and five touchdowns.
Rodriguez was the AFL’s Week 11 MVP after catching 13 passes for 148 yards and four touchdowns in a 62-61 victory over the Orlando Predators on May 24.
Rodriguez is one of two Auburn players on AFL rosters. Offensive lineman Byron Isom plays for the Tampa Bay Storm. Rodriguez and Isom were teammates at Auburn in 2007.
Rodriguez has missed eight of the Power’s 13 games this season because of an ankle injury. In his five games, he had 50 catches for 565 yards and 16 touchdowns.
This is Rodriguez’s third AFL season. In 2012 for Tampa Bay, Rodriguez caught 125 passes for 1,653 yards and 32 touchdowns. In 2013 for Orlando, Rodriguez caught 119 passes for 1,614 yards and a franchise-record 41 touchdowns.
After leaving Auburn, Rodriguez spent four seasons in the Canadian Football League, playing for five teams. In 2008, he was chosen as the CFL East Division Most Outstanding Rookie while playing for the Hamilton Tiger-cats. He caught 70 passes for 1,099 yards and seven touchdowns that season.