Vaqueros bring Marburger home
A new journey has begun for former Sharyland Pioneer Diamondbacks’ quarterback Eddie Lee Marburger. After breaking school and Rio Grande Valley records, obtaining multiple championships, and graduating from Pioneer High School as a Diamondback, the four-year letterman committed and played for the UTSA Roadrunners. Now, with one year of eligibility left, the quarterback will be bringing his talents back to the Rio Grande Valley. Specifically to UTRGV, home of the Vaqueros in Edinburg, Texas.
Before joining UTSA, Marburger was a record-setting quarterback at Sharyland Pioneer High School, where he passed for 8,966 yards and 103 touchdowns, becoming the Rio Grande Valley’s all-time leader in passing TDs. Marburger also rushed for 2,381 yards and 44 touchdowns in his career. This, along with earning numerous accolades, including the 2020 Whataburger Super Team selection and All-South Texas Super Team Player of the Year, proved why he was destined to be one of the greats.
Progress Times got the chance to speak to Marburger about his inspiration for the game that he loves to play. He shared, “I would just say from my family really. My great-great grandpa Bill Patterson played for the Bears and the Steelers long ago and then my grandpa played at Texas Lutheran for a little bit and then my dad played at Baylor and my uncle at Baylor. They all play football so I would say they instilled that in me.”
If you didn’t get to witness Marburger on the field during his high school days, you missed out on a career that is second to none. From 2017-2019, his freshman and sophomore years, Marburger showed a glimpse of what was to come despite the lack of playing time. From 2019-2021, Marburger took the reins of the Diamondbacks offense and proved why he was the best on every field he stepped on.
Marburger’s junior campaign was special. In the 13 games he played that season, he threw for 4,505 yards and rushed for 1,009 yards. This included 58 passing touchdowns and 16 rushing touchdowns. Marburger led the Diamondbacks to a district championship, a bi-district championship, and an area championship as they sailed to the third round of the playoffs with an 11-2 overall record.
Marburger spoke about that junior season, “Junior year, we had a really good team. I would say what helped so much was we were also close. All the guys, we grew up together since middle school and even some elementary so we all grew up together. I think just our bond always being around each other even from when we were little, we played basketball together, we played football together, we played baseball together so we always just had a connection. When we got to high school, we were all a little bigger and faster. I just had so many good guys around me and I really didn’t have to do much to be honest. All I had to do was get the guys the ball and they did all the work. Luke Padilla, Lavar Lindo, Tristan Castillo, Gavin De la Garza, Alan Davila, Evan Maldonado… I mean all those guys, they pretty much did it all for me my junior year.”
In his senior season, Marburger and the Diamondbacks took it up a notch. In nine games, Marburger passed for 3,385 yards and rushed for 1,177 yards. He passed for 36 touchdowns and rushed for 26 touchdowns in that season. He led the Diamondbacks to a district, bi-district, area, and regional championships and nearly won their quarterfinals game, but were shy by three points.
Talking about his senior year, Marburger said, “That was also a good team. We had some of the guys come back like Tristan Castillo, who was one of our best receivers/running backs and we had good receivers like Miguel Ramos, Joseph Graham, and JJ Snyman. We had guys all around.”
To say that Marburger has been the most successful quarterback during his tenure with the Diamondbacks would be an understatement. There was no doubt that he earned his spot to play quarterback at the collegiate level. His journey would continue to the University of Texas San Antonio as he etched his signature and committed to the Roadrunners as a junior.
In 2021, Marburger redshirted after appearing in two games, throwing for 143 yards and a touchdown. During the 2022 season, he played in six games, completing 10 passes for 100 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 27 yards. In 2023, he appeared in three games, starting two, and completed 29 of 47 passes for 300 yards and three touchdowns, including a 72-yard pass against Army which is the eighth longest pass in program history. Classified as a redshirt junior, Marburger will be moving onto his senior season with a new school, the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, as a quarterback of the inaugural Vaquero football team.
Marburger spoke about what he learned as a member of the Roadrunners: “I would say I learned a lot from all the guys there. I learned a lot from Coach Traylor. I learned a lot from the other quarterbacks. There was Frank Harris, who was a really good mentor to me and Josh Adkins, who was really good to me, and then I even learned a lot from Owen McCann just from the way he carried himself. His character really taught me a lot.”
The Vaqueros welcomed Marburger with open arms. When asked about the decision to play for the team, Marburger told us, “It was a tough decision I would say, but mainly just being back home with my family and my family being able to watch me play was a big thing for me.” He went on to say, “I met with coaches and when I entered the portal, Coach Bush texted me saying he wanted me to come home and he recruited me for about a month or two and I ended up coming home.”
Marburger now comes home to play with a Vaqueros team that is looking to make some noise in their first season. Marburger told us, “I want to help win the FCS championship in year one.” The expectations could never be too high for a player of his caliber.
To cap off, Marburger sent a message to the people back home rooting for him, “I’m just excited that God is giving me another opportunity to play and I’m gonna give it everything I got and I hope to see you guys at the game.”
UTRGV is set to kickoff its inaugural season against Sul Ross State on August 30, 2025 at Vackar Stadium in Edinburg, Texas.