Charles Rogers, the former No. 2 overall NFL draft pick for the Detroit Lions whose career lasted just 15 games, says in a new interview that he smoked marijuana every day and got hooked on prescription pills when he was an NFL player.Asked by ESPN's Jemele Hill how often he used marijuana, Rogers said, "Regularly. Regularly. ... Yeah. I blew every day. I blew every day. You know, I was doing something wrong. You can't smoke in the league, so I was wrong."
Video of the interview is after the jump.
Rogers seems to suggest in the interview that prescription pills he took to deal with pain after he broke his collarbone for the second time were an even bigger problem. As a Lion, Rogers served a four-game suspension for violating the league's substance-abuse policy, and he has been in drug-related trouble with the law since his playing career ended as well. Rogers was scrutinized by NFL teams even before he was drafted after he reportedly tested positive for a masking agent at the NFL scouting combine.
But that didn't stop Lions President Matt Millen from using the second pick in the draft on Rogers, who had starred at Michigan State. Millen appears in the interview, too, saying that he noticed something different with Rogers, and implying that drugs were the reason.
"He was average," Millen said. "Something clearly was wrong. He looked like a different guy."
For Millen to describe Rogers as "average" is yet another example of the former Lions front office boss sugarcoating his tenure with the team: Rogers, who caught only 36 passes in his career, was far below average.But Millen's comments aside, this short excerpt of Hill's profile is an interesting look at why Rogers became one of the biggest busts in NFL history. The full profile, which will air on the August 16 Outside the Lines, will be worth watching.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 7)
8-05-2009 @ 9:46AM
evwulf said...
What was Millen's excuse? He SHOULD have smoked pot every day, might have helped out his decision making.
Reply
8-05-2009 @ 8:56PM
Cleetus Awreetus said...
How do you know he didn't? But yeah....he would have made better decisions....my bad......he smoked five pound chunks of CRACK. That is the only way to explain the Lions.
8-05-2009 @ 12:28PM
joliejolie99 said...
great !
Reply
8-05-2009 @ 1:12PM
Facing Facts said...
When I went through radiation therapy, I had to take pain pills. When I stopped after 3 months it was tough. I went through drugs when I was younger and never had any problems walking away. Never any big buck contracts to help me along. These guys and gals are using this prescription drug thing as a crutch for their weakness as a human being. Too bad he is a has been.
Reply
8-05-2009 @ 3:00PM
paganjul said...
You need to be educated in THIQ lok it up! Learn something everybody is diferent!!! Everyone isnt as PREFECT AS YOU.... OH I forgot your god!
8-05-2009 @ 7:44PM
Annie said...
But what you don't realize is that some people have addictive personalities and others don't.
8-05-2009 @ 8:03PM
Boogie Woogie Woo said...
paganjul speaks from experience. You can tell by reading her post she is a crackhead.
8-05-2009 @ 1:24PM
RACENDIRT said...
This really isn't newsworthy. People from all walks of life do the same. Many, many people.
Reply
8-05-2009 @ 1:44PM
JBaer10314 said...
No, I figured a guy like Charles Rogers would turn cartwheels after getting booted out of the NFL after 15 games. Duh...
Reply
8-05-2009 @ 2:05PM
bobby and sandi said...
LOSER TYPICAL LOSER
Reply
8-05-2009 @ 2:05PM
Koch said...
Is anyone shocked?
Reply
8-05-2009 @ 2:09PM
bbomb187 said...
Pot is a drug, understand. Doing pot ruins you whether you want to believe it or not. I have no respect for anyone who does pot. Many people do smoke it, but that doesn't make it right. It should not be legalized because
it is a drug that has no benefit regardless of what the liberal left says.
Reply
8-05-2009 @ 2:34PM
danny202 said...
You can say that all you want, but you really don't know who around you smokes and doesn't! For every person you see, I am sure that at least one to two people smoke on a daily basis. And you would never know it, unless they told you. Let's face facts, he smoked everyday, so what. His problem with not being good, is that he didn't try to be. You know how many professional people smoke pot on a daily basis, does that mean they can't do their jobs when they aren't high???? You have NO ideal what people do in their spare time, so before you judge everyone around you, realize that if they did smoke, you would never know. And they could be your boss or your neighbor.
8-05-2009 @ 2:59PM
King Timothy said...
You have never went through kemo and have no idea what you are talking about. Pot is the only drug that allows those taking kemo treatment the ability to have an appetite and keep thier stomach from major cramping,
8-05-2009 @ 3:09PM
idiyamin7 said...
lol a very uneducated ignorant comment. If pot did not have any medicinal value then it would not be available in hospitals across the country to stimulant appetite in cancer patients or combat vomiting in h.i.v. patients as well as an assortment of other medicinal uses.
8-05-2009 @ 3:54PM
Justin said...
I know what you mean. Pot ruined me. When I was in high school I was drugfree and getting ds.
Now in college, I smoke pot every day and my gpa went from 1.2 to 4.0 I might even make phi theta kappa... damn you devil weed...
8-05-2009 @ 4:52PM
shralla said...
Right. That's why more and more states every year are enacting medical marijuana bills, right? And that's also why more and more states every year are passing decriminalization bills, I suppose?
8-05-2009 @ 5:42PM
spiderman5150 said...
Bomb187, you ever had cancer or anything but raciest closet homo's to base your knowledge on or do you just love to hate?
Ask yourself does that beer you drink have any medical value and did making it illegal work?
Prohibition DOES NOT WORK!!!!!!! and it NEVER WILL!!
8-05-2009 @ 5:58PM
Welcome Steve said...
so you donmt drink either that should be against the law before pot.
8-05-2009 @ 7:16PM
yvetteuijas said...
Good thing I don't "do" it, but I love to smoke it. So do most people, they just don't announce it.