Windsor named af2 Rookie of the Year

HIDALGO — Even in a league tilted toward the offense, Dorados wide receiver Rod Windsor stood out.

Windsor on Tuesday was named the af2 Rookie of the Year in a vote of league coaches and selected media members. In his first af2 season, Windsor set league records for touchdowns and receiving TDs with 59, scoring (362 points), and receptions (184). He also narrowly missed setting the af2 record for receiving yards, gaining 2,634 yards, breaking the prebious record but finishing second this year to Quad City’s Jesse Schmidt who finished with 2,393 yards.

“Coming in, I didn’t know that I was going to do this well. I knew I was going to do well,” Windsor said. “I kind of knew I was going to do well but I didn’t know I was going to do this well.”

Along with fellow quarterback and fellow rookie Nick Hill, Windsor helped the Dorados finish eighth in the 25-team league in scoring at 57.2 points per game. They also led the league in passing offense, averaging 304.6 yards and total yards per game at 325.9.

In 15 regular season games, Windsor gained at least 100 receiving yards in 13, falling short only against Corpus Christi in the Dorados’ fifth game with 92 yards and their 12th against Arkansas with 99. There were also four games with over 200 receiving yards, including a team record 224 against Bossier Shreveport on May 22.

“Rod was a guy I knew could be pretty good,” Dorados coach Marty Hammond said. “I just didn’t know he was going to put up those numbers.”

Because of those numbers, Windsor is hoping to move up to another league. One possibility is the new United Football League, a four-team circuit that starts in October. Though it’s not the National Football League, it would mean Windsor is back in the outdoor game and maybe closer to where he wants to be one year from now.

“I hope to be in a training camp for the NFL,” Windsor said. “That’s the plan. That’s the reason everybody’s here, to move up and go play in a higher league. Sometimes things work out and sometimes they don’t.”

Brian Sandalow covers the Rio Grande Valley Dorados for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him at (956) 683-4436.