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June 7, 2018

Mr. Rogers Back in the neighbourhood

Mr. Rogers had no trouble recognizing the old neighbourhood.

“A lot of familiar faces as far as coaches, front-office staff, and I saw some of the players I played with here,” admitted Eric Rogers, fresh off passing a medical after re-signing with the Stampeders.

“That was great. One of the main reasons I decided to come back to the Stamps.”

No, not a lot has changed out 1817 Crowchild Trail N.W. way since Rogers took temporary leave of us.

Bo Levi Mitchell’s still chucking the rock.

The potential of the receiving corps continues to be lights out.

And the non-negotiable standard remains a Grey Cup title.

Nothing less.

“This option definitely made a lot of sense personally, coming off not playing for two years because of a major knee injury and knowing what I need to do moving forward,’’ said Rogers.

“I know how coach Dickenson runs practices, I don’t have to think about where I’m going for the next meeting, will I get paid … all those kinds of things.

“I can just go out on the field and play football.

“Which is what I want to do. What I need to do.”

A bit of Lynn Swann, a touch of Nureyev and a dash of Monte Carlo cat burglar-jewel thief thrown in for good measure. That was Eric Rogers in 2015, when he latched onto 98 passes for a table-topping 1,648 yards and 13 touchdowns.

“Eric understood game plans, good route-runner, makes plays on the football, long and rangy, hard worker and a good teammate,’’ said Stamps’ receivers coach Pete Costanza. “All those attributes made him what he was when he was here before.”

In the blush of his breakout season here up north, Rogers departed to pursue his NFL dream, and then tore an ACL while readying for a season with the San Francisco 49ers.

He hasn’t practiced or played since.

“Oh, yeah, I remember it happening. Of course. On kickoff. I NEVER want to be on kickoff again. I saw (special teams) coach (Mark) Kilam today and I almost said: ‘Hi, coach, never put me out on kickoff, OK? Unless it’s an onside kick. Then I’ll gladly help.’

“Going from the ultimate opportunity, a month away from realizing a dream to play in an NFL game, to then a major injury that ends your season and possibly the next season, which ended up happening, was extremely difficult.

“Just to battle back, getting the opportunity to practice again, possibly play again, is a blessing.

“I’ve always been a resilient person, since I was little. I just took the injury as another blow that knocked me down and now I have to get up. That isn’t just me.

“That’s how life works.

“You can’t have a pity party.”

For Mitchell, the prospect of the receivers at his disposal – Kamar Jorden, Marken Michel, DaVaris Daniels, etc., et al, and now Rogers – to play pitch-and-catch with must be something comparable to running the L.A. Lakers’ fast break during their Showtime years.

“Man, could be fun,” teased the Katy Kid, with a happy wink. “I don’t want to over-hype it too much and give these guy swelled heads but I think the entire group knows how dynamic they can be. You look at all the great receiving corps – B.C.’s, going all the way back to when (Anthony) Calvillo had all those tall trees.

“There’s a chance we’ll have a star sitting out from week-to-week. But it does give us flexibility.

“(Rogers) doesn’t take anything away from the guys who are already here. We weren’t lacking anything.

“This is about adding a piece that’s a very good receiver, a good locker-room guy and someone I’m looking forward to having back.”

Rogers, too.

“You create bonds with players and coaches you went to battle with, won games with, celebrated a Grey Cup with,” he says. “I know how they do their business here, preparing us to win games. I know everything’s run well.

“We stayed in contact, even when I was with the Niners. They checked in every so often to see how I was doing, from a football standpoint and a personal standpoint, good or bad.

“I’ve paid attention to Stamp games over the last two years. I rarely missed the big games. I played with Lamar, played with K.J., DaVaris, What I’ve seen, is spectacular. I’ve watched Michel blow by guys down the field.

“There are some great receivers on this team so I’m just looking to come in and contribute to our overall success of the team.”
Being away so long, Rogers knows, will take some fine-tuning to get back up to speed.

“It’ll be a little weird,” he readily acknowledges. “I haven’t gone up against competition yet, against a DB yet. So the main thing for me is getting used to countering a guy who’s trying to stop me from catching a ball. Things of that nature.

“But I think this is the best situation for me to be successful. And I have realistic expectations.

“It’s a blessing to be back here, in my mind. It might take a little while but I think I’ll get there.”