Ep. - 1469 - SATURDAY SERIES: JOHNNY RODRIGUEZ
Reality Life with Kate Casey
Kate Casey
4.4 • 7K Ratings
🗓️ 29 November 2025
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Mater Dei boys lacrosse coach Johnny Rodriguez was 35 when he was diagnosed with ALS—a disease doctors told him would give him only a few years to live. In this powerful conversation, Johnny shares how he’s using the discipline and mindset of a championship athlete to stay in peak shape and fight back against a devastating prognosis.
Johnny also opens up about fatherhood—including the fact that during this interview, he was preparing for the birth of his third child—and why he believes he has this disease for a reason.
This is a story of purpose, resilience, and choosing to live fully, even in the face of the unthinkable.
Reality Life with Kate Casey
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The amazing Kate Casey. Welcome back for another episode of Reality Life with Kate Casey, and welcome |
| 0:07.7 | back to this Saturday series episode. I have the most inspiring guest today. His name is |
| 0:12.9 | Johnny Rodriguez. Now, this is a deeply personal episode for me. I'm a former lacrosse player and coach. |
| 0:19.2 | My oldest daughter attends modern day, where today's guest leads the boys lacrosse program. |
| 0:24.0 | And my son plays in a club team coached by the same men who stand with him on the sidelines. |
| 0:28.5 | So this conversation isn't abstract or distant. |
| 0:31.3 | It's about someone who is part of my own community, someone my kids look up to, |
| 0:35.4 | and someone who represents the heart of a sport that shaped my life. |
| 0:38.7 | Johnny Rodriguez is the head coach of modern days boys lacrosse. |
| 0:42.4 | He's a former national champion goalie at Salisbury University and a former major league lacrosse player. |
| 0:48.7 | Johnny isn't just a great coach. |
| 0:50.2 | He's someone who rebuilt a struggling program into one of the strongest in the West. |
| 0:54.6 | But in 2023, at just 35 years old, he was diagnosed with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. |
| 1:01.3 | ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative condition that attacks the motor neurons in the brain |
| 1:06.3 | and spinal cord, ultimately robbing the body of movement. When Johnny received his diagnosis, |
| 1:11.7 | doctors told him he likely had a few years to live. Instead of surrendering, Johnny did what great |
| 1:16.4 | athletes do. He created a game plan. He has used every bit of discipline, training, and competitive |
| 1:21.8 | fire to stay in peak physical condition, working daily to slow the progression of a disease |
| 1:26.6 | that wants to shut his body down. |
| 1:28.5 | And here's the thing that says everything about who he is. The morning we spoke, he was awaiting |
| 1:32.3 | the birth of his third child. Midway through the interview, his wife Christina, called to tell him |
| 1:36.4 | it might be time to go to the hospital. Most people would have ended the conversation immediately, |
... |
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