This weekend will be massive for sports fans. The winter Olympics start Friday. The Super Bowl is Sunday, and Texas Connects Us to both. Christian Gonzalez got his start in football right here in North Texas. He is projected to play a key role for the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl. Gonzalez, who’s played three seasons in the NFL, has remained true to his roots. “I would equate it to being like a proud dad,” said Rudy Rangel, longtime head football coach for The Colony High School, where Gonzalez spent his junior and senior years. “He really comes in very unassuming, super quiet,” recalled Rangel. Soft-spoken off the field but thunderous in his impact on it. “Basically, everything he touched turned to gold once he got here,” said Rangel. The team became District 5-5A champions during a season that Gonzalez started on both sides of the ball. “By the end of his third game with me, he had multiple offers. By the end of his tenth game, he had over 40 offers,” said Rangel. Gonzalez is the son of a 6-foot-9 former basketballer who played semiprofessionally in Colombia, and brother to two All-American track and field athletes and a rising soccer star. “My hope is that he’ll always love what he’s doing and that he’s doing it that reason for the love for the sport,” his mom Temple told NBC 5 in 2023. After three seasons playing for Colorado and Oregon in college, Gonzalez was drafted 17th overall by the New England Patriots. “I was one of a couple of guys that was invited to go, and it was just a blessing. I couldn’t believe I was there,” recalled Rangel. Gonzalez told reporters in 2023 he wanted to buy his parents a house after landing his first NFL deal, a promise he made good on in 2024. It’s an example, Rangel says, of Gonzalez’s elite status as a player and a person, deserving of his Super Bowl debut. “To see the community really rally and want to root for him and not just because he’s a good footballer, because he’s a good human. Big deal,” said Rangel. ...read more read less