Richard Rodgers II
Richard Christopher Rodgers II (born January 22, 1992) is an American football tight end for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at California and was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the third round of the 2014 NFL Draft. He has also been a member of the Washington Football Team.
 Rodgers with the Green Bay Packers in 2014 | |||||||||
| No. 85 – Philadelphia Eagles | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Tight end | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | January 22, 1992 Martinez, California | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 257 lb (117 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Saint John's (Shrewsbury, Massachusetts) | ||||||||
| College: | California | ||||||||
| NFL Draft: | 2014 / Round: 3 / Pick: 98 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||
| Roster status: | Active | ||||||||
| Career NFL statistics as of Week 12, 2020 | |||||||||
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Early life
Rodgers was born in California, growing up there and Oregon and New Mexico before moving to Worcester, Massachusetts in 2004.[1] He attended St. John's High School in Shrewsbury. At St. John's he was a four-time letterman in basketball and three-time letterman in football for the Pioneers. While on the basketball team, he led the Pioneers to the state championship game all four years, including a win in 2009. As a senior, he averaged 17.8 points, 10.8 rebounds, 4.5 blocks, 4.1 steals and 3.4 assists playing basketball. Rodgers was named to the starting five on ESPNBoston's MIAA All-State Boys Basketball Team along with other talented players from Massachusetts such as seniors Pat Connaughton and Jake Layman as well.[2] He is one of 14 athletes in Saint John's history to be a member of the 1000 Point Scorers List, with 1423 points. In football, he helped lead the Pioneers to central Massachusetts super bowl championship wins his last two years.[3] Former Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Rob Blanchflower was also a teammate of Rodgers in football and basketball at St. John's.
Prior to the start of his senior year, Rodgers committed to attend the University of California, Berkeley, where his father Richard Rodgers Sr.,who also played football, handled two of the five laterals in "The Play".[4]
Rodgers is cousins with Jairus Byrd.[5]
College career
Rodgers played in 35 of 37 possible games (starting 11) for the California Golden Bears during three seasons from 2011–13. He had 20 catches for 288 yards as a 2012 sophomore. He had his best season in 2013 as a junior, when he totaled career highs of 39 receptions and 608 yards receiving to rank third on the team in both categories. He finished his career at Cal with 59 receptions for 896 yards receiving (15.2 yards per catch) and two touchdown catches.[6]
College statistics
| Year | Games | Receiving | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | GS | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | |
| 2011 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2012 | 11 | 6 | 20 | 288 | 14.4 | 51 | 1 |
| 2013 | 11 | 5 | 39 | 608 | 15.6 | 75 | 1 |
| Total | 35 | 11 | 59 | 896 | 15.2 | 75 | 2 |
| Source: CalBears.com | |||||||
Professional career
| External video | |
|---|---|
 Rodgers' NFL Combine workout |
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand size | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | Wonderlic |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) |
257 lb (117 kg) |
5⁄8 in (0.02 m) |
1⁄8 in (0.00 m) | 4.87 s | 1.69 s | 2.82 s | 4.47 s | 7.23 s | 31.5 in (0.80 m) | 9 ft 8 in (2.95 m) | 16 reps | 22[7] |
| All values are from NFL Combine[8][9] | ||||||||||||
Green Bay Packers
Rodgers was selected in the third round with the 98th overall pick by the Green Bay Packers in the 2014 NFL Draft.[10] On June 12, 2014, he signed a contract with the Packers.[11] He made his NFL debut on September 4, 2014. He did not record a catch. In Week 4, he recorded his first two catches for 52 yards against the Chicago Bears. Rodgers' first NFL touchdown came in the second quarter of the Packers' November 23, 2014 matchup versus the Minnesota Vikings at TCF Bank Stadium. After rolling out far to his right, quarterback Aaron Rodgers completed a 1-yard touchdown pass across the width of the field to Richard Rodgers, who had completely avoided defensive coverage and was left standing alone in the corner of the endzone.[12]
On December 3, 2015, in a Week 13 matchup against the Detroit Lions, Richard Rodgers caught a Hail Mary pass from Aaron Rodgers for 61 yards with 0:00 left to beat the Lions 27–23, after the game was extended due to a face mask penalty called on Detroit.[13] The Hail Mary was quickly dubbed as "The Miracle in Motown." After the game Richard Rodgers admitted thinking about "The Play" his father was part of stating "It's a really special moment for him and I was kind of thinking on the play before, when Aaron got the facemask, I was kind of thinking we would do something like that. Obviously it turned out differently."
Philadelphia Eagles
On April 4, 2018, the Philadelphia Eagles signed Rodgers to a one-year, $880,000 contract that included $200,000 guaranteed.[14][15] He was placed on injured reserve on September 4, 2018 with a knee injury.[16] He was activated off injured reserve on November 16, 2018.[17] His only statistics were during a week 16 match against the Houston Texans, where he recorded one catch for 7 yards.
On March 28, 2019, Rodgers re-signed with the Eagles on a two-year contract.[18] He was placed on injured reserve with a foot injury on August 30, 2019.[19] He was released from injured reserve with an injury settlement on September 11.[20] He was re-signed on December 24, 2019.[21]
Washington Football Team
Rodgers signed with the Washington Football Team on April 6, 2020.[22] He was released on September 5, 2020.[23]
Philadelphia Eagles (second stint)
On September 8, 2020, Rodgers signed back with the Philadelphia Eagles after an injury to Joshua Perkins.[24] After stepping in for an injured Dallas Goedert, Rodgers became the starting tight end on Week 7 following an injury to Zach Ertz. In Week 11 against the Cleveland Browns, Rodgers caught two passes for 48 yards and his first touchdown since 2017.[25] In Week 12 against the Seattle Seahawks, Rodgers caught a 33-yard Hail Mary pass from Carson Wentz in the last minute of the fourth quarter.[26]
References
- Toland, Jennifer (August 23, 2014). "Rodgers proud to watch son blossom into pro". telegram.com. Archived from the original on April 8, 2018. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
- "ESPNBoston's MIAA All-State Boys Basketball Team". ESPN.com. March 29, 2011. Archived from the original on October 29, 2017. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
- Hall, Brendan (May 10, 2010). "Richard Rodgers drafted by Green Bay Packers". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on October 29, 2017. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
- "St. John's Richard Rodgers chooses Cal". ESPN.com. August 29, 2010. Archived from the original on April 8, 2018. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
- Dunne, Tyler (May 18, 2014). "Packers rookie Richard Rodgers Jr. learned football from dad". JSOnline.com. Archived from the original on September 28, 2017. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
- "California Golden Bears: Richard Rodgers". CalBears.com. Archived from the original on August 26, 2016. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
- "2014 Green Bay Packers draft picks". JSOnline.com. May 10, 2014. Archived from the original on April 22, 2018. Retrieved April 22, 2018.
- "NFL Events: Combine Player Profiles – Richard Rodgers". NFL.com. Archived from the original on April 8, 2018. Retrieved August 23, 2016.
- "Richard Rodgers – California, TE : 2014 NFL Draft Scout Player Profile". NFLDraftScout.com. Archived from the original on April 8, 2018. Retrieved August 23, 2016.
- "Richard Rodgers Draft Profile". NFL.com. Archived from the original on April 8, 2018. Retrieved August 23, 2016.
- "Packers sign draft picks Adams, Rodgers". Packers.com. June 12, 2014. Archived from the original on April 8, 2018. Retrieved October 19, 2016.
- "Eddie Lacy, Aaron Rodgers lift Packers past Vikings". ESPN.com. Associated Press. November 23, 2014. Archived from the original on April 8, 2018. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
- Rosenthal, Gregg (December 3, 2015). "Packers stun Lions on Aaron Rodgers' Hail Mary TD". NFL.com. Archived from the original on April 8, 2018. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
- McPherson, Chris (April 4, 2018). "Tight end depth increases with veteran Richard Rodgers". PhiladelphiaEagles.com. Archived from the original on April 8, 2018. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
- "Eagles' Richard Rodgers: Gets $200K guaranteed". CBSSports.com. April 10, 2018. Archived from the original on May 27, 2018. Retrieved May 27, 2018.
- "Eagles Bring Back WR Markus Wheaton". PhiladelphiaEagles.com. September 4, 2018.
- Foley, Graham (November 16, 2018). "Richard Rodgers Activated From Injured Reserve". PhiladelphiaEagles.com. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
- Spadaro, Dave (March 28, 2019). "Richard Rodgers returning to add depth at TE". PhiladelphiaEagles.com. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
- "Eagles announce first wave of roster moves as team works toward 53-player limit". PhiladelphiaEagles.com. August 30, 2019. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
- McPherson, Chris (September 11, 2019). "Eagles release TE Richard Rodgers off of Injured Reserve with an injury settlement". PhiladelphiaEagles.com. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
- McPherson, Chris (December 24, 2019). "Eagles sign TE Richard Rodgers and promote WR Deontay Burnett to the active roster". PhiladelphiaEagles.com. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
- "Redskins Sign TE Richard Rodgers, WR Cody Latimer". Redskins.com. March 30, 2020. Retrieved March 30, 2020.
- Jhabvala, Nicki; Fortier, Sam (September 5, 2020). "Alex Smith avoids Washington Football Team's cuts, will remain on 53-man roster". Washington Post. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
- McPherson, Chris (September 8, 2020). "Eagles sign TE Richard Rodgers and protect four practice squad players for Week 1". PhiladelphiaEagles.com. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
- "Philadelphia Eagles at Cleveland Browns – November 22nd, 2020". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
- "Seattle Seahawks at Philadelphia Eagles – November 30th, 2020". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 3, 2020.