(The Detroit News) Former Michigan State and Lions Charles Rogers talks of getting hooked on prescription pills and admits to a past daily marijuana habit, according to excerpts from an interview for an upcoming segment on ESPN’s “Outside the Lines.”
“Regularly, regularly, yeah I blew every day,” Rogers tells ESPN and former Detroit Free Press reporter Jemele Hill, answering the question how often he smoked marijuana while in the NFL. “But you know, I was doing something wrong. You can’t smoke in the league, so I was wrong.”
Rogers was a two-time All-Big Ten receiver and an All-American in 2002 for the Spartans before the Lions selected him with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2003 NFL Draft.
A much-hyped selection given his local roots and his hefty contract — he signed a six-year, $55 million deal — Rogers, a Saginaw native, caught two touchdown passes in his NFL debut, a 43-24 victory over the Arizona Cardinals on Sept. 7, 2003.
That was the high point of a career that fell hard and fell quickly.
Rogers missed much of his rookie season with a broken collarbone, then suffered a similar injury early in the 2004 season. But the big blow came in 2005, when he was suspended four games for violating the NFL’s substance-abuse policy. He returned from the punishment but was mostly ineffective, with nine catches and one touchdown in the season’s final seven games.
Speaking of that third season, then-Lions president Matt Millen tells ESPN’s Hill: “He was average. Something clearly was wrong. He looked like a different guy.”
Gee, Matt, on your 4-12 2005 team, “average” would have been spectacular, wouldn’t it? (And no, I’m not just bitter because one of those four wins was on opening day against 
reen Bay.)
I hate the headline and tone of this article, which would have you believing that Charles Rogers is a sad case of a talented athlete whose career was ruined by weed. But think about it for a second. Do we think he just started smoking marijuana when he was drafted by Detroit? I doubt it. Instinct tells me he “blew every day” while he was becoming a two-time All-Big-Ten receiver, All-American, and #2 overall NFL draft pick. Then he suffers a broken collarbone – a very painful injury – twice in his first two years in the league. He uses cannabis, I assume, as part of the pain relief and prescription pills for the rest. Then he’s suspended for “substance abuse”, which has to be the weed, because they won’t suspend you for legit prescriptions. So, again I assume, he has to quit the cannabis, but the pain still remains, so he has to keep using the pills, perhaps more of them since cannabis tends to moderate the need for opioids.
I’m betting the mind fog from prescription pills plus the fear of leaping over the middle for the tough catch and getting pegged in that collarbone by Brian Urlacher twice a year would turn anyone into “a different guy”.
Detroit radio host: Lions partially to blame for Charles Rogers situation
by The Saginaw News
The fallout continues to come from yesterday’s news that Charles Rogers, the former Saginaw High, Michigan State and Detroit Lions wide receiver admitted he smoked marijuana on a daily basis during his NFL career. Rogers opened up about his drug use during an interview with ESPN’s Outside the Lines, which will air Sunday, Aug. 16.
Detroit radio personality Jamie Samuelsen, in his blog on the Detroit Free Press’ web site, argues that while Rogers is responsible for his own actions, there was also a failure on the part of the Lions management for failing to reach out to the star wide receiver.
Freep.com: Rogers was one of the Lions most important players given where they drafted him and his skill set coming out of MSU. He smoked pot every single day according to his accounts. And his play on the field was declining rapidly so much so that he was simply an “average player”. If you’re the Lions, aren’t you turning over every stone to figure out why this guy isn’t performing? Or are you simply scratching your head saying to yourself, “Hmmmm, that’s funny. He wasn’t this lethargic when we drafted him.”
Detroit radio host: Lions partially to blame for Charles Rogers situation
by The Saginaw News
Wednesday August 05, 2009, 2:15 PM
The fallout continues to come from yesterday’s news that Charles Rogers, the former Saginaw High, Michigan State and Detroit Lions wide receiver admitted he smoked marijuana on a daily basis during his NFL career. Rogers opened up about his drug use during an interview with ESPN’s Outside the Lines, which will air Sunday, Aug. 16.
Detroit radio personality Jamie Samuelsen, in his blog on the Detroit Free Press’ web site, argues that while Rogers is responsible for his own actions, there was also a failure on the part of the Lions management for failing to reach out to the star wide receiver.
Freep.com: Rogers was one of the Lions most important players given where they drafted him and his skill set coming out of MSU. He smoked pot every single day according to his accounts. And his play on the field was declining rapidly so much so that he was simply an “average player”. If you’re the Lions, aren’t you turning over every stone to figure out why this guy isn’t performing? Or are you simply scratching your head saying to yourself, “Hmmmm, that’s funny. He wasn’t this lethargic when we drafted him.”
Lions could have done more in Rogers’ situation
By JAMIE SAMUELSEN • Detroit Free Press Special Writer • August 5, 2009
Does Charles Rogers’ marijuana admission surprise you?
By surprised I can’t say that I never in a million years saw that coming and am flabbergasted by the revelation. No, I’m not surprised like that. I guess I’m surprised by the sheer volume of the marijuana that he “blew”. But given the drug culture in sports and in America, I’m not stunned at all. And honestly, I’m sure that there are many players who have helped derail their careers by “blowing” every day. And I’m sure there are many athletes who are still in the pros today who do the same thing, but simply have trained themselves to work around it and not allow it to completely impede their career.
But here’s what surprises me. How is this coming out now? Where was the NFL drug testing policy? Where were his teammates? And most importantly, where were the Lions?
Of all of Matt Millen’s failings as the Lions GM, this in a way may be the worst. Millen was quoted on Rogers’s drug admission by saying this, “He was average,” Millen said. “Something clearly was wrong. He looked like a different guy.”
So let me see if we have this straight. Rogers was one of the Lions most important players given where they drafted him and his skill set coming out of MSU. He smoked pot every single day according to his accounts. And his play on the field was declining rapidly so much so that he was simply an “average player”. If you’re the Lions, aren’t you turning over every stone to figure out why this guy isn’t performing? Or are you simply scratching your head saying to yourself, “Hmmmm, that’s funny. He wasn’t this lethargic when we drafted him.”
I understand that ALL franchises in ALL sports look the other way on certain things. As long as a guy is performing, many front offices will let “boys be boys”. But when a former top three pick is struggling so badly and is smoking pot every day, you have to step in and have to figure out what’s going on. It’s bad enough that Millen missed so badly on draft picks and free agents. But it’s even worse that he was so clueless as to what was going on in his own backyard.
Make no mistake though. This is on Rogers first and foremost. His behavior is completely ridiculous. It’s not just about the money he was making — although that’s a factor. But it’s also just so pathetic, particularly in this economy with so many people looking for work, that this guy so badly wasted his ability. Most of us would kill for the opportunity he got, and he just smoked it away. But the Lions are culpable. They’re not culpable in the smoking, that’s on Rogers. But it borders on corporate negligence to be so out of touch with one of your biggest investments and most important players.
…damn.