Rogers, Don

Donald Clinton Rogers

Rogers was an offensive lineman at the University of South Carolina in the late 1950s. He then played professionally with the San Diego Chargers in the American Football League in the 1960s and was a member of the 1963 AFL Championship team.

Birth and Death Dates:
b. December 4, 1936

Career Highlights:
Rogers played three seasons at South Carolina in the late 1950s, adn during his career, the Gamecocks had a combined record of 18-12-0. After graduating in 1959, Rogers was selected by the San Francisco 49ers in the seventh round (74th overall) of the NFL Draft. Rogers did not end up playing in the NFL, however, choosing instead to play for the Los Angeles Chargers of the newly-formed American Football League.
In 1960, Rogers joined fellow rookie (and future Hall of Famer) Ron Mix on the offensive line of the Chargers, who were coached by Sid Gillman. That season, Rogers played in all 14 regular season games as L.A. finished 10-4-0 before losing to Houston in the AFL Championship.
In 1961, Rogers and the Chargers returned to the AFL Championship game after finishing the regular season 12-2-0 -- they again lost to Houston in the title game. After a 4-10-0 season in 1962, the Chargers finally won the AFL Championship in 1963. They finished the regular season 11-3-0, and then crushed the Boston Patriots 51-10 in the title game as they had 610 yards of total offense in the game.
Rogers appeared in all 14 regular season games in 1964 as the Chargers (8-5-1) returned to the Championship for the fourth time in five seasons -- they lost to Buffalo 20-7. Following the 1964 season, Rogers retired -- he appeared in 68 AFL regular season games (out of a possible 70) during his career and was a solid presence in the middle of the line.

Origin:
South Orange, New Jersey

Career Dates:
Rogers played center at the University of South Carolina from 1957-1959. He then played center in the AFL for the Los Angeles Chargers in 1960, and with the San Diego Chargers from 1961-1964.

Physical description:
6'2", 250 pounds

Use links below to navigate through the football section of Jews In Sports.

< Previous | Next >

References:
The Encyclopedia of Football, by Roger Treat (New York: A.S. Barnes and Co., 1976 -- 14th Edition)
Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League, edited by Bob Carroll, Michael Gershman, David Neft, and John Thorn (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1999)
encyclopedia of JEWS in sports, by Bernard Postal, Jesse Silver, and Roy Silver (New York: Bloch Publishing Co., 1965)