Finding Charles Rogers

quote:

---

Charles Rogers walked into the Michigan State University football building for the first time in 15 years on a cold cloudy day last November.

He'd been reluctant to return to the campus where he’d been a star, worried that the disappointments were all anybody would remember.

Without prompting from former MSU teammate TJ Duckett, he might not have come.

“I was facing my fear, bro,” Rogers said, skinny now, emphatically throwing his tattooed arms into the air.

But inside the Skandalaris Football Center that day, he and Duckett found themselves in front of a pillar encased in glass. Rogers' photo was inside along with a replica of the 2002 Biletnikoff Trophy, given to the nation’s top wide receiver.

---

quote:

---

The trophy case was a reminder of what Rogers once was. Of spectacular leaping touchdown grabs and roaring crowds at Spartan Stadium on Saturdays. Of the fact that, in two seasons, he hauled in 135 passes for 2,821 yards and a school record 27 touchdowns.

On the other side of the case was a 2002 edition of Sporting News with Rogers on the cover, screaming as he glides through the air.

“Meet college football’s best player” it read in bold white letters.

It was the smaller headline on the front that kept Rogers away for all these years.

“Size. Speed. Hands. Charles Rogers has it all – including a very bright future in the NFL.”

That was true — once.

---