Reggie Rogers, the former standout University of Washington football player whose promising NFL career was cut short by his problems off the field, was found dead Thursday in Seattle. He was 49.
A law enforcement official confirmed to the Seattle Times that Rogers' body was discovered on the porch of a Seattle-area home around 12:45 p.m. Thursday. Local reports claim he either died of a drug overdose, or a heart attack brought on by one.
The Detroit Lions had high hopes for Rogers, a defensive tackle who made All-American in college, when they chose him in the first round of the 1987 NFL draft.
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But a year later the trouble started. In 1988, Rogers was found guilty of negligent homicide after running a stop sign, hitting another car, and killing all three teenagers inside. His blood-alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit, and he was sentenced to 16 months in prison.
He returned to football in 1991 with the Buffalo Bills, and then left the NFL all together shortly after, having played just 15 games in four seasons.
Over the years, Rogers racked up quite a rap sheet including six drunken-driving convictions, assault charges, and other criminal traffic violations.
He was sentenced to a year in jail in December 2011 after his sixth DUI, according to the Times, and was also arrested earlier this month for allegedly hitting his wife in the head with a flashlight.
Rogers was the younger brother of Don Rogers, an All-American safety at UCLA and NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year with the Cleveland Browns, who died in 1986 at age 23 of a heart attack caused by cocaine overdose while Reggie was attending college at the University of Washington.
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