In case you haven't heard, wide receiver Da'Rick
Rogers was suspended by the University of Tennessee last Thursday for
unspecified reasons. Citing the standard "violation of team rules"
head coach Darek Dooley made it clear Rogers would not return to the program
for the 2012 college football season. Rumors were rampant that he wouldn't
return at all.
When Justin Hunter went down in the 2011 season,
Rogers stepped up and caught 67 passes for 1040 yards and 9 touchdowns. Rogers’
talent is undeniable. It is also undeniable that his tenure at the University
of Tennessee has been a rocky one, if you will pardon the pun. I won’t go into
the details of the issues as they are well documented and repeating them doesn’t
do anyone any good. The relationship is now broken and he is no longer on the football
team.
It was reported last night that
Rogers was transferring to Tennessee Technological University in
Cookeville, Tennessee and had already participated in team meetings. It is not
yet clear whether he will play in the season opener Thursday night against
Hampton. Rogers will be reunited with Tre Lamb who he went to high school with
and who is the starting quarterback for the Golden Eagles.
As an alumnus of the University of Tennessee, and a longtime fan of the Vols, I hope you will join me in wishing Rogers well. There are some relationships that are a bad fit from the get go and this appears to be one. As fans, we use the term Vol for Life, and call each other family. As with any family member, you disagree with certain things and you get upset with each other. At the end of the day though, we should support each and wish each other well, even when things don't turn out the way we expect. It is perfectly fine to let a family member go and wish them well when the relationship is broken without possibility of repair.
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