Former Lions WR Charles Rogers Dies at Age 38

Former NFL wide receiver Charles Rogers died Monday. He was 38.  

According to Hugh Bernreuter of MLive.com, Rogers died from liver failure. He also reportedly had cancer.

The Detroit Lions selected Rogers with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2003 NFL draft after his decorated college career at Michigan State. He was a 2002 All-America selection and won the Biletnikoff Award as the nation's top receiver that same season.

From a talent perspective, Rogers was special. His former coach at Saginaw High, Don Durrett, told Chris Solari and Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press that Rogers was the best athlete he ever came across:

"I'll tell you, he was—and I'm including Flint, too, since I coached at Flint Northern all those years—he's the best athlete I ever seen. I mean, honestly. We're talking about basketball, football and track together. He could have had a scholarship in all three sports. That's how good. … I haven't seen nobody that fast that could do it all. He was just a blessed athlete that could do it all."

But Rogers never lived up to his massive potential in the NFL, lasting only three years in the league.

During a short career marked by injuries and a 2005 suspension for repeatedly failing drug tests and violating the league's substance abuse policy, he registered 36 receptions for 440 yards and four touchdowns. The Lions cut him in Sept. 2006, and he never caught on with another team.

In 2017, Rogers told Cody J. Tucker of the Lansing State Journal that his injury issues—he broke his collarbone twice—and an addiction to Vicodin hindered his career.

"(The Lions) were giving them out like candy," Rogers said of the painkiller. "Whatever you want, man. Whatever you want. (They) weren't even questioning as long as you are on the field. They were passing them out like Skittles. I was straight hooked on them things for three or four years."

He also said he smoked marijuana every day while at Michigan State and with the Lions.

"Everybody knew I smoked," he said. "It wasn't a big deal. It didn't even hinder my play. I get to Detroit, it's a whole different story. I understand it. You can say it's a maturity thing, but I was just playing ball. That's probably where I went wrong at. It's a guidance thing, man."

After his career, Rogers had legal issues and was arrested six times between Sept. 2008 and Oct. 2012, per Tucker.

Although his NFL career ended in disappointing fashion, Rogers impacted those who had the chance to watch him play in his prime.

"I will always be a fan of Charles Rogers," former NFL linebacker LaMarr Woodley, who was also Rogers' teammate at Saginaw High, told Tucker in 2017. "That will never change. The things he showed me, positively and negatively, had an effect on my life. I made it because Charles Rogers motivated me. He is the best athlete I have ever seen. He is a great guy and helped a lot of people."