INGLESIDE, Texas — Every fan has their reason why. Whether they come to the game because they have a son or they're just a Mustang alum and want to root for the team. One Ingleside fan in particular is not only doing it for the entire team, but the entire community.
"The Blue Blood runs through my veins at all times when it comes to Friday night football," Rosendo Adame, the Ingleside 'Blue Man', said. "I'm doing this for the Mustangs. I'm doing this for our family. We're doing this for the community."
Rosendo Adame has always bled blue and white, even after he graduated in 1984. Adame played wide receiver, strong safety and kicker for the Mustangs.
"I played three years with varsity football and I earned my stripes with them I think," Adame said. "We did good."
It wasn't until 2007, when his daughter Serena was a cheerleader, that he decided to put on his war paint.
"Then the coach comes up to me, Coach (Graig) Hesseltine, and he goes "hey, hey Blue. Hey Blue Man can you run the flag for the team? Can you run the players out?" I said "yeah, but oh wait I can't," Adame said. "My daughter wants me to leave. I'm embarrassing her." She goes "Dad where are you going." I said "you told me to go home girl." She goes "no dad, they like you here. They love you. You've got to stay dad."
That was the beginning of the Blue Man fan in the stands.
"It's just so much to this team because when you see him running out with us it means so much to the Mustangs," Ingleside senior running back and linebacker Nate Ambrose said. "He brings a level of energy that is not matched by anyone on the team."
For 11 years, the Blue Man embodied the spirit of the Mustang, took pictures with other fans and handed out free footballs out of his own pocket to kids wearing the most blue after the third quarter, but then everything changed.
"I lost my mom in 2017. It was Oct. 19 when she passed away," Adame said. "She was a good mom."
In a five year span, Adame lost his mother Erlinda (Oct. 19, 2007) to a heart attack on his birthday, his friend Adan (Jan. 9, 2021) and then his wife Olivia (Jan. 2, 2022) to cancer. Adan played football alongside Rosendo as a center on offense and linebacker on defense.
"I want them to hear my cry. My pain. What I'm going through in life. It's a hard feeling," Adame said. "It's a hard feeling to have somebody that I lost and nobody knows the pain that I'm going through, and I'm doing this for all of us. I just miss everybody you know. I miss her. I miss Adan and I miss my mom."
Adame returned as the Blue Man on Sept. 8 for Ingleside's 2023 home opener against Aransas Pass. The Mustangs won 58-6.
"My wife she didn't want me to quit doing the Blue Man when I lost my mom. She wanted me to keep on doing it, and I said "no. I'm not going to do it no more," Adame said. "When she passed away she always wanted me to do it, so now I'm doing it for them and the Mustangs."
Up next, Ingleside (3-0) hosts the Rio Hondo Bobcats (2-1) on Friday, Aug. 15 at 7:30 p.m. at Mustang Stadium. Adame plans on honoring his loved ones with a Friday Night Memorial Game. While this is not an official event with the school, he hopes this could become a nationwide event for everyone to come together and unify on Friday night.
