Today is the 30th anniversary of one of the saddest – and most impactful – days in Browns history.
It was 30 years ago, on June 27, 1986, that free safety died of cardiac arrest caused by a cocaine overdose while at a bachelor party the night before his wedding day.
He was just 23 and had only barely scratched the surface of his potential. He could have been one of the greatest Browns defensive players ever and maybe – just maybe – a Pro Football Hall of Famer at some point.
Without him, the Browns lacked the defensive enforcer in the middle of the field who could have stopped quarterback John Elway in those three AFC Championship Game losses to his Denver Broncos.
Yes, Rogers was that good.
Just ask Bill Rees, who served in various scouting and personnel roles, including as director of player personnel, under General Manager Phil Savage with the Browns from 2005-08. A graduate of Ohio Wesleyan, Rees also worked as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at UCLA for 15 years (1979-94) and as a scout for the Kansas City Chiefs under former Browns head coach Marty Schottenheimer from 1994-97.
Rees’ time at UCLA and with the Chiefs provide the background of a great story he told me about Rogers that underscores both his greatness and the impression he made on those who knew him.
“I was at UCLA for the careers of both Don and Eric Turner,” Rees said of the two Bruins safeties who were selected in the first round of the NFL Draft by the Browns in 1984 and ’91, respectively. “I loved watching them play. They were just tremendous players in all aspects of the game.
“Eric might have been a little better in coverage – just a little – but Don hit harder. Don would hit guys so hard, in fact, that you would just cringe. You hoped and prayed those receivers would get up.
“I kept all that in mind one time when I was in Kansas City with Marty. There was a safety I saw when I was scouting that I really liked. I was telling Marty about him, and he didn’t seem interested. No matter what I said, I couldn’t get Marty to take a look at him.
“I knew, of course, that Marty had coached Don both years that he played with the Browns (in 1984 as defensive coordinator for the first half of the season and then as head coach, and in 1985 as head coach for the entire year). I was running out of options, so I thought I’d pull out my trump card. It was something I really believed, but I was going to use it only if I had to. And I was going to have to, or else we were going to lose out on a prospect.
“I told Marty, ‘You know, this kid kind of reminds me of Don Rogers.’ Marty hadn’t even looked at me as we were talking, but he immediately put down some papers he was going through and looked me right in the eye. ‘Yeah, Marty,’ I said, ‘he really does remind me some of Don.’
“Marty’s face turned red and he began to get misty-eyed. I knew then that I had his attention. He reached out with his hand and grabbed my forearm, then he leaned a little closer to me and said, almost forcing out the words because of the emotion he was feeling, ‘Geez, Bill, I loved Don Rogers. I really did. I think about that kid all the time. I mean, what a player he was. I’ve never gotten over what happened to him.’
“Then Marty stopped for a moment and looked down as he tried to gather himself. He looked back up, looked right in the eye again, and said, ‘Bill, Don was such a special kid, and I really trust your judgment. So if this player you’re talking about really reminds you of Don, I promise you I’ll take a look at him.’ ”
Sometime today, you can bet that both Bill Rees, now 62 and director of player personnel at Wake Forest, and Marty Schottenheimer, now 72 and retired from coaching but still doing some TV work, will pause for a moment and remember the late, great Don Rogers.
And so should all Browns fans.
