Rogers helps keep Chargers on field

The following is another “Have Fun or Get Out of the Way” column by award-winning Don Leighton and Mike Granlund and their alter egos, Lance Boyle and Billy Pirkola, which runs occasionally in The Superior Telegram.

Humorist Will Rogers once said, “I never met a man I didn’t like.”

This article is about another Will Rogers, the one from Superior, who is making a name for himself in his chosen profession as an assistant athletic trainer for the National Football League’s San Diego Chargers.

How he got to this point in his life is a story worth telling.

Rogers was born in Superior to parents, Bill and Lynne, the third son after Brent, now 34 and Nathan, 32, entered the world. Athletics were always a big part of his life growing up, and he participated in soccer, track and field, baseball and his true love, basketball.

As a kid he had dreams of playing in the NBA, but two ACL operations and a third ACL injury during high school derailed those thoughts. The 2000 Superior High School graduate realized there was more to life than competing in sports, but being a realist and an opportunist, he accepted his injuries and took another avenue to satisfy his need to be involved in sports.

Rogers remembers when his decision was made.

“By the end of my senior year of high school, after having ACL surgery in both knees and a partially torn ACL again in my right knee, I knew being an athletic trainer was what I wanted to do,” Rogers said. “I knew I couldn’t continue to play sports so I figured this would be the next best thing. I figured with my personality and my experience of being injured, I could help others who were hurt. The NFL was my dream. I never in my wildest dreams imagined I would be here so soon though.”

Hard work, dedication, pursuit of his dream and a nothing-can-stop-me attitude is what got Rogers to his current status of excellence in the athletic training profession. What can be learned from his life’s journey is to set your goals high and always keep reaching for the top.

Rogers has achieved much in his 30 years, but the greatest honor the NFL can bestow upon athletic trainers was presented to head athletic trainer, James Collins and assistants, Damon Mitchell and Rogers, when they were voted the 2009 NFL Athletic Training Staff of the Year by the Professional Football Athletic Trainers Society (PFATS).

As reported by Casey Pearce in Best in the Business, “Collins, Mitchell and Rogers are responsible for helping players prevent injuries and treating them when they do occur. That includes leading them through rehabilitation exercises and explaining to the players their physical conditioning and what they need to do to recover.”

“The job they do daily, their ability to communicate and interact with everybody in a very positive way makes the whole rehab process flow the way it should,” said Charger quarterback Phillip Rivers. “The relationship and the interaction are very positive between the players and our athletic training staff. James and Damon and Will do a great job.”

This success didn’t happen overnight. Remember never losing sight of your goal? After graduation from SHS in 2000, Rogers attended Penn State University where he graduated with a degree in kinesiology in 2005. He received his masters in kinesiology and health promotion with an emphasis in athletic training from the University of Kentucky in 2007.

He joined the Chicago Bears in June, 2007 as an athletic training seasonal intern before moving on to San Diego in May, 2008 as assistant athletic trainer.

Now that the NFL lockout is over, Rogers’ life has returned to normal. That is if working seven days a week 10-12 hours a day is normal. During the offseason his days, only five per week, are usually done by 3 p.m.

His duties are countless, and he performs them with professionalism and expertise. He loves his job. How else could he have been a member of the “Super Bowl” of NFL athletic trainers? Remember the hard work needed to attain your goals?

Rogers comments on the most satisfying part of his job, “No question, it is returning a player back to the field after an injury. Seeing the excitement and happiness in a player returning to an NFL game is like no other feeling in the world, especially if it is a bad injury that kept the player out of a majority of the previous season.

“Knowing how much hard work that player has put into returning to the field gives us a sense of pride and accomplishment. That’s what makes this job so much fun.”

He has many fond memories of Superior, which include making the game-winning free throw that beat Minnesota’s fifth ranked Duluth East during his senior year. His parents bought a section of the bleachers from SHS that he still has. His four years at SHS and the teaching he received from the likes of Dan Hodnick, Kyle Smith, Tom Borich, Connie Dahlman, Bill Rehnstrand and Bob Glockner, “taught me to critically analyze and think for myself and that helped me to perform stronger at Penn State and Kentucky.”

Behind every successful person is a great and supportive family. On his family, Rogers has these thoughts, “There is no way I would be where I am today without the support of my mom and dad and both brothers. My parents were extremely supportive of all three of us boys in whatever decision we made. They didn’t pressure us to do anything that wasn’t in our mindset already.

“They were the best parents I could ever ask for. And having two older brothers to look up to and go to for advice, and help me with anything I came to them with, was amazing.”

Along with Pat Flynn, I had the pleasure of coaching Will in basketball for three years at Cooper Elementary School.

He has become what we knew he would become: a success story for every person, not just kid, to emulate. He was, and still is, intelligent, polite, driven, committed, thankful, respectful and unwilling to accept failure.

Lance Boyle predicts Will Rogers will one day be the head athletic trainer of an NFL team.

Perhaps the best thing about Superior’s Will Rogers is that I have never met a man that didn’t like him. That says volumes.

NOTES: Rogers has made a new friend in Minnesota Duluth All-American Isaac Odim. The two met when Odim joined the team as a free agent. "He seems like a really nice guy," Rogers said. "We had some common things to talk about, me being from Superior and he playing for UMD. He's looked really go in camp, so far." ... Rogers said Odim has impressed veteran players with his moves on the field and his overall athleticism. ... Odim gained 6 yards on four carries in the Chargers' 24-17 loss to Seattle Thursday night. ... The Chargers next preseason game is Aug. 21 at Dallas, with coverage on NBC starting at 7 p.m.

Opinions and/or story ideas can be e-mailed to dleigh1273@aol.com.

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