the pantheon of college football feel-good fables, few hit the “humble hero meets superstar savior” trope quite like the viral yarn about Maria Thompson, the “poor janitor” at Texas Tech’s Jones AT&T Stadium. According to a December 3, 2025, post on riseglow.biz, Maria—struggling on a shoestring salary—spots Red Raiders linebacker Jacob Rodriguez with a flat tire on a chilly night. She rolls up her sleeves, changes it herself, and the next day? A gleaming white SUV pulls up to her house, courtesy of a grateful Jacob, transforming her life overnight. It’s the stuff of Hallmark movies: rags to riches, one lug nut at a time. Except… it’s not real. At all.
The “full story” link? It leads to a barren page with the garbled title repeated ad nauseam, a random Stevie Nicks sidebar about doves and hope (because why not?), and zero actual narrative. No key events. No quotes from Maria or Jacob. Just a void screaming “clickbait graveyard.” Riseglow.biz, like its kin in the scam-site ecosystem, thrives on emotional bait—headlines engineered for shares, content engineered for nowhere. Searches for “Maria Thompson Texas Tech janitor” yield LinkedIn profiles of admins and attorneys, but nary a whisper of a tire-changing trailblazer at the stadium. If she exists, she’s got the stealth of a ninja.
Enter Jacob Rodriguez, the real star here—and the only verifiable piece of this puzzle. The 23-year-old senior linebacker (born September 6, 2002, in Hastings, Minnesota) is Texas Tech’s defensive heartbeat, a transfer from Virginia who flipped from quarterback to gridiron wrecking ball. His 2025 stats? FBS-leading seven forced fumbles, 101 total tackles (56 solo), four interceptions, and a Heisman whisper campaign from coach Joey McGuire that’s equal parts hype and heart. Rodriguez, a Wichita Falls Rider alum and two-time Minnesota wrestling state champ as a kid, walked on at Tech after sleeping on his brother’s floor and scraping by on loans—his own rags-to-relevance arc that’s worlds more inspiring than any SUV surprise. NIL deals (he’s got an Opendorse profile slinging shoutouts for $10+) let him marry high school sweetheart Emma, now a Black Hawk pilot in the Army, and focus on football without the grind. No reports of him gifting rides to janitors, though—his generosity shines in community spots like Dairy Max campaigns and team captain vibes, not mystery white Tahoes.
This isn’t Rodriguez’s first brush with myth-making. Reddit’s r/NFL_Draft crowned his journey “the best story in CFB” for the grit alone: from UVA gadget guy (65 receiving yards as a frosh) to Big 12 Preseason Defensive POY, Bednarik Weekly Honor winner, and Lombardi finalist. With Tech eyeing a Big 12 title clash vs. BYU on December 6 (ABC, 4 p.m. ET), he’s got 127 tackles over two years, five sacks, and a mustache that’s meme gold. Fans are pushing #HeismanForJacob, but the real plot twist? He announced a 2026 return, passing NFL buzz for one more Lubbock lap.
So, what’s the harm in a harmless hoax? In an NIL era where real stories—like Rodriguez funding his Army wife’s dreams or sleeping on floors for a shot—get drowned in digital dross, these fakes cheapen the authenticity. Maria Thompson might be out there changing tires for real, but if she is, it’s not because a LB rolled up with a Escalade. It’s because folks like her keep stadiums shining, no fanfare required.
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