When a sports injury sidelined Adam Rodriguez back in high school, his dreams of becoming a professional baseball player had to be put aside. He turned to acting, replacing one passion with another.

Although Rodriguez had dabbled in children's theater in his native New York, and at age 10 auditioned for a role on The Cosby Show, it was only after his career ending injury that he focused full-time on acting as a profession. Upon leaving school, in order to support himself as he sought work as an actor, Rodriguez took on a number of jobs, including a stint at a New York brokerage firm and later as a real estate agent.

His lucky break came when his father, who was watching the Emmy Awards on television, recognized an old friend of his from the service, Bill Clark, who is the supervising producer of the police drama NYPD Blue. The two friends became reacquainted, which led to Adam being cast in a guest-starring role in an episode of NYPD Blue.

Impressed with his talents, Rodriguez was asked to audition for Steven Bochco's newest police drama, BROOKLYN SOUTH.