Reggie Rogers

{{Short description|American gridiron football player (1964–2013)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}

{{Use American English|date=April 2024}}

{{Infobox NFL biography

| name = Reggie Rogers

| number = 60, 77, 75, 90

| position = Defensive tackle

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1964|1|21|mf=y}}

| birth_place = Sacramento, California, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2013|10|24|1964|1|21|mf=y}}

| death_place = Seattle, Washington, U.S.

| height_ft = 6

| height_in = 6

| weight_lb = 278

| high_school = Norte Del Rio (Sacramento)

| college = Washington

| draftyear = 1987

| draftround = 1

| draftpick = 7

| pastteams =

• Detroit Lions ({{NFL Year|1987|1988}})
• Buffalo Bills ({{NFL Year|1991}})
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers ({{NFL Year|1992}})
• Hamilton Tiger-Cats ({{CFL Year|1993|1994}})
• Shreveport Pirates ({{CFL Year|1995}})

| highlights =

• Consensus All-American (1986)
• Morris Trophy (1986)
• 2× First-team All-Pac-10 (1985, 1986)

| statlabel1 = Sacks

| statvalue1 = 2.0

| pfr = RogeRe20

}}

Reginald O'Keith Rogers (January 21, 1964 – October 24, 2013) was an American professional football player who was a defensive tackle who played four seasons in the National Football League (NFL) for the Detroit Lions (1987–1988), Buffalo Bills (1991), and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1992).

A consensus All-American for the Washington Huskies in Seattle under head coach Don James, Rogers was chosen seventh overall in the 1987 NFL draft by the Lions.{{Cite web |title=1987 NFL Draft Listing |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1987/draft.htm |access-date=2023-09-24 |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en}} However, he only played six games of his rookie season due to a slew of emotional problems, even spending time in a counseling center.[https://web.archive.org/web/20121102094756/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-3855627.html Woes pile up for Lions' Rogers]. Chicago Sun-Times, 1987-11-15. His second season in 1988 ended after only five games when his car struck another vehicle and killed three teenagers early on Thursday, October 20.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=6IhQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=rRIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3278%2C5699527 |work=Milwaukee Sentinel |agency=Associated Press |title=Reggie Rogers charged in crash |date=October 22, 1988 |page=4, part 2 }}{{Dead link|date=June 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=9vJVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=luEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6857%2C5510082 |work=Eugene Register-Guard |location=(Oregon) |agency=Associated Press |title=Police wait for arrest of Rogers |date=October 22, 1988 |page=9C}}{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-12-04-sp-1408-story.html |work=Los Angeles Times |last=Wojciechowski |first=Gene |title=One more nightmare: Reggie Rogers, haunted by the past, faces an uncertain future |date=December 4, 1988 |access-date=August 16, 2019}} He was later found to have a blood alcohol content of 0.15, the legal limit in Michigan being 0.10 at the time.[https://www.nytimes.com/1990/01/17/sports/sports-people-pro-football-former-lion-sentenced.html Former Lion sentenced]. The New York Times, 1990-01-17 The Lions waived him in July 1989, not because of the felony charges, but because he broke his neck in the collision.[https://web.archive.org/web/20121102094819/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1201418.html HighBeam] In 1990, he was convicted of vehicular homicide and spent 13 months in prison.

Following his sentence, Rogers had brief stints with Buffalo and Tampa Bay, but was out the NFL after the {{nfly|1992}} season. He made his way to the Canadian Football League and played for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (1993–94) and one of the U.S. expansion teams, the Shreveport Pirates (1995). He played 33 games in the CFL and accumulated 18 sacks and 91 tackles in three-down football.

Rogers is often considered among the biggest draft busts in NFL history. In 2008, ESPN named him the 13th-biggest bust since the AFL-NFL merger.[https://www.espn.com/nfl/draft08/news/story?id=3325687 ESPN - Phillips couldn't outrun off-the-field troubles - NFL] A year earlier, Yahoo! Sports named him the worst #7 pick since the merger.{{cite web|last=Robinson |first=Charles |url=https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=cr-worstfirstroundpicks042407 |title=Worst all-time first-round picks - Yahoo Sports |publisher=Sports.yahoo.com |date=2007-04-24 |access-date=2013-10-25}}

On November 26, 2008, Rogers was involved in a hit-and-run collision in Tukwila that resulted in his arrest and a charge of DUI. It was his fifth arrest for DUI in the state of Washington, dating back to his college days at UW.{{cite web|author=Jon Nait |url=http://www.seattlepi.com/local/390417_Rogers03.html |title=Former UW football star charged in DUI case |publisher=seattlepi.com |date=2008-12-02 |access-date=2013-10-25}}

Rogers also played three seasons for the Husky basketball team under head coach Marv Harshman.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=St1VAAAAIBAJ&sjid=WeEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6588%2C7707881 |title=Switching uniforms |agency=news services |work=Eugene Register-Guard |location=(Oregon) |date=November 28, 1984 |page=2C}}