RIP Charles Rogers
November 11th, 2019 at 8:53 AM ^
Will always remember this commercial:
November 11th, 2019 at 8:53 AM ^
Way too young. Very sad.
November 11th, 2019 at 8:55 AM ^
I wonder what was the cause of death. I read in an article a while ago where he was quoted saying he was not going to stop smoking weed every day. That doesn't usually kill you at 38 yrs old. I remember the article saying he was working for a friend in Florida managing an auto repair shop. He didn't sound as though he was doing that great, but he was least getting by.
November 11th, 2019 at 9:08 AM ^
Very sad what his life became. Scares the heck out of me, to stay away from vices. I hope he's with the Lord now, in a much, much better place. He doesn't look 36 in this. Painful to watch.
November 11th, 2019 at 9:25 AM ^
Damn. Really hadn't heard anything about him since the Lions. Looks pretty rough there.
November 11th, 2019 at 9:36 AM ^
Gosh that is really sad. You can tell he has been through, and was likely going through a lot. Best not to speculate but you can certainly see there is a lot there going on.
November 11th, 2019 at 9:09 AM ^
Assuming he stuck to marijuana, I always saw him as the kind of guy who wouldn't take care of his health. If he had heart problems I could see that sneaking up on him. I had a friend who had a stroke a couple of years ago at about the same age.
Farewell, Charles. May you rest in peace.
November 11th, 2019 at 9:22 AM ^
Lol, my dad is 69 years old and has smoked weed every single day since the early 1970s. He is now in very good health and grows his own really strong stufff.
Charles looks like he’s doing some Meth or Coke.
November 11th, 2019 at 9:22 AM ^
Even a lot of weed every day won’t kill you. However the careless mentality that comes along with that approach to life can kill you.
Depending on where he was in Ft. Myers Florida, there can be a lot of drugs available. There are some rough neighborhoods near there. Drugs seems to be the likely culprit at 38, at least it’s probably a contributing factor.
RIP Charles.
November 11th, 2019 at 6:20 PM ^
As I was reading your post, Fox2 Detroit aired a story stating that smoking pot everyday doubles your risk of stroke.
November 11th, 2019 at 9:40 AM ^
He was a drinker also, among other things. Remember when he was behind the wheel of a car at a stop light, with the car running, unresponsive for like 20 minutes. The cops couldn't wake him while banging on the window. Substance abuse is a bitch.
https://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/2009/09/exlions_receiver_charles_roger.html
November 11th, 2019 at 10:15 AM ^
There was an article attached to the Freep article discussing his troubles after his career. He had been hooked on opioids (Vicodin). Anyone paying any attention knows how that can go if it had been a problem that persisted.
November 11th, 2019 at 8:57 AM ^
I didn't know he played at Saginaw High. They had some incredibly talented teams back in the 90's and early 2000's.
November 11th, 2019 at 9:13 AM ^
I just saw the highlight where he got one foot down in the back of the endzone against Notre Dame. Memories came back of when I saw it live.
November 11th, 2019 at 9:16 AM ^
Got to hand it to state in those days - they landed Andre Rison, Charles Rogers and many other 'to a lesser extent' but very, very good receivers like Plaxico Burress and Mark Ingram.
November 11th, 2019 at 9:14 AM ^
Yes they did. Unfortunately most all the incrediblly talented athletes in that area no longer attend school. Most are doing other things. Saginaw is really missing out on a slew of talent from the east side.
November 11th, 2019 at 9:15 AM ^
Wow, RIP, he was 1 of the most talented high school football players in state history. Was the #1 overall ranked recruit in the country on one of the services.
It was terrible he got drafted by the Lions, because if there was 1 player who needed to get away from the influences of home it was Rogers.
November 11th, 2019 at 9:20 AM ^
You would think that after drafting Joye Harrigton, then coming back with Charles Rogers, Roy Williams and Mike Williams in 3 of next 4 years with Kevin Jones as the other pick - that Detroit 'should have' had the leagues number 1 offense for 10 years running.
Can you call of of them busts?
The lions have had 1 NFL Hall of Famer drafted in the first round in the last 71 years (Barry Sanders). That is fucking nuts.
November 11th, 2019 at 9:33 AM ^
Calvin Johnson will be. Lomas Brown should be. Stafford will have HOF numbers.
November 11th, 2019 at 9:45 AM ^
Agree with all 3.
November 11th, 2019 at 9:18 AM ^
i'll put this here, passing on info from a favorite mgoblog-lurker: the tragic death of cassius winston's brother's passing was probably a suicide.
i see that 99.9% of us are on the same page on this level, genuine sympathy to the spartans/families for their loss. let's see if we can get it to 100%.
November 11th, 2019 at 9:32 AM ^
Yeah it was reported as a likely suicide. The train engineer said he stepped in front of the train with nobody else around him.
November 11th, 2019 at 9:44 AM ^
That's terribly sad. Just last week a University of Michigan Law student committed suicide by throwing himself in front of a train near Dexter. Mental health is so stigmatized in our culture when someone needs help, they don't always reach out.
November 11th, 2019 at 10:41 AM ^
And if they do reach out, they'll often discover their insurance plan doesn't cover mental health services until they hit an insanely high deductible.
It's like we want people to commit suicide.
November 11th, 2019 at 1:42 PM ^
As someone who struggles regularly with mental health issues, I can honestly say that all of this is true. It’s hard to claw your way out of your mental state and reach out for help; and what’s worse is you often refuse help when someone else recognizes that you may be in need. It’s a very hard spot to be in, and at times you can mentally comprehend that you need help or that someone is right about asking you for help, but you just can’t bring yourself to actually utilize resources or accept the help offered. It’s very sad and very scary. It’s almost like an addiction. I feel for the Winston family, as I have known several people to succumb to the mental gymnastics required to live with these illnesses. My heart breaks for any and everyone that has to deal with this, friend or foe.
November 11th, 2019 at 2:22 PM ^
Keep on keeping on. Go Blue.
November 11th, 2019 at 9:19 AM ^
Buddy of mine was hooked on Vicodin about 12-13 years ago. He was buying extra pills from a guy in Saginaw and once told me he went to the guys house and Charles Rogers was there buying large amount.
There's a photo of Rogers from few years ago and was very sad looking and hard to believe. Will post it if I can find. He looked like he weighed 130 lbs and in his 50s
November 11th, 2019 at 10:15 AM ^
Yes, there's a good chance that a 38 year old former elite athlete didn't die of natural causes, but I also don't get the need to make assumptions about how he died and what it may have said about his moral character.
November 11th, 2019 at 11:28 AM ^
You’re right. We don’t need to make assumptions. He has a proven criminal record of domestic violence including towards his own mother. I’m sorry he died at such a young age, absolutely tragic, however we don’t need to pretend he was a role model either.
November 11th, 2019 at 9:22 AM ^
wtf????
this is awful!
November 11th, 2019 at 10:36 AM ^
That was my exact thought; WTF???
What a horrible tragedy.
November 11th, 2019 at 9:22 AM ^
Fun story-Charles Rogers owes me $1. I sat next to him at a WWE event in the front row and we were betting on who we thought would win. We bonded because both of us were wearing jorts, me wearing them ironically with an awful mustache and him wearing designer jorts. We both argued about who got to bet on John Cena because both of us wanted him to win (of course, because he was wearing jorts also). I ultimately got to bet on him and he won. Charles Rogers still owes me that $1. RIP.
November 11th, 2019 at 9:23 AM ^
My brother is a Sparty and I went with him to the MSU game against Rice in ‘02. Since it wasn’t really an interesting game I focused my attention on Rogers, who was getting a huge amount of hype at the time.
His physical talent was clear, but it was glaringly obvious that on the plays not apparently designed to go to him—like running plays, screens, or passes to other receivers—his route-running was nonchalant and his blocking was half-hearted. He didn’t attempt to “sell” anything he was doing if he wasn’t getting the ball.
I don’t know if this was typical of his play in general, but I wasn’t surprised at all that he was a huge bust for the Lions and washed out of the NFL so quickly.
November 11th, 2019 at 9:35 AM ^
Dude, he just died.
November 11th, 2019 at 9:56 AM ^
So it’s fine for several people in this thread to directly imply—without any current confirmation—that drugs were the cause of his demise, but it’s over the line to comment on his playing career? Ok.
November 11th, 2019 at 10:01 AM ^
No, none of it is ok.
November 11th, 2019 at 10:13 AM ^
It's actually not fine either for them, but "what a lazy person" about a dead 38 year old is shitty too.
I swear, some people around here just can't recognize that in the end it's a bunch of human beings playing these sports and talking shit about them at all chances is idiotic. He's dead, so rejoice in the fact that his unwillingness to not give 110% at all times on the football field will continue.
November 11th, 2019 at 12:07 PM ^
Let’s all just pretend he wasn’t a supremely talented athlete who squandered his talents through drugs and other poor choices and that his death at just 38 years-old was normal and natural and likely had nothing to do with his lifestyle.
November 11th, 2019 at 1:38 PM ^
That's not the point. The OP stated only that Rogers was lazy in college and wasted his talent, a completely irrelevant piece of pontification relating to a guy's death, unless his laziness led to him being run over by, I don't know, a truck while playing football.
November 11th, 2019 at 9:36 AM ^
Come on man, why is it so hard just to say "I'm sorry that he passed" instead of talking negatively about his playing career?
November 11th, 2019 at 11:48 AM ^
Because that's lazy, archaic way of human societal norm. When someone passes we should talk about them. If their life included unfortunate events, it should be discussed. We should also mourn, if need be. But the two previous concepts don't have to be mutually exclusive. CR was a football player who had great potential and Don is posting about how he remembers him. It's okay to not blow sunshine and rainbows up everyone's ass about sad and unfortunate events.
November 11th, 2019 at 11:49 AM ^
Because that's lazy, archaic human societal norm. When someone passes we should talk about them. If their life included unfortunate events, it should be discussed. We should also mourn, of course. But the two previous concepts don't have to be mutually exclusive. This isn't his funeral and we're not speaking directly to his mother here. What good is everyone just posting "thoughts and prayers"?! There really isn't one other than to feel good about oneself, hence it now an internet joke do so.
CR was a football player to most of us, who had great potential but never quite lived up to it. And Don is posting about how he remembers him. It's okay to not blow sunshine and rainbows up everyone's ass about sad and unfortunate events.
November 11th, 2019 at 9:48 AM ^
You sure you were not watching Funchess?
November 11th, 2019 at 9:35 AM ^
Wow. Awful news. I am the same age as Charles and remember when he had the world by the tail. But even when he was at state, he got himself into weird kind of troubles. Be at peace Charles, wherever you are.
November 11th, 2019 at 9:35 AM ^
I was looking at the track results a month or so ago and was talking to my son about how many gifted athletes were in that 2000 track final. Really haven't seen that since in the state of Michigan.
100 M
1. Kelly Baraka, Portage Northern, 10.56;
2. Charles Rogers, Saginaw, 10.59;
3. Stuart Schweigert, Saginaw Heritage, 10.72
Schweigert had run a 10.6 to win the 1999 DIv 1 final and ended up having the best pro career of the 3.
November 11th, 2019 at 9:40 AM ^
If Baraka and Rogers are on the same list, I think you can ask have the "don't do drugs" talk with your son as well.
November 11th, 2019 at 9:53 AM ^
Rogers and Schweigert constantly ran against each other here in Saginaw. They had quite a rivalry and remained friends long after high school. I had a nice pic of them running track against each other.
Stu had ran into his own problems in this area. He lived next to my good friend in Hemlock for a few years and is active in the Saginaw area.
November 11th, 2019 at 9:03 PM ^
Yup, I remember those two competing in high school. They were elite athletes.
November 11th, 2019 at 9:57 AM ^
same 3 in the top 3 for the 200 M that year, along with Carl Tabb in 4th, except Rogers won, followed by Baraka and Schweigert
November 11th, 2019 at 9:37 AM ^
What an awful week for MSU. I feel for both families.