Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 11, 1990 TAG: 9004110051
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: COLUMBIA, S.C. LENGTH: Medium
"A decision has been made to suspend George Rogers without pay until the charges against him are resolved," said school spokeswoman Debra Allen, who said the suspension becomes effective today.
Rogers, who won the Heisman Trophy in his senior season at South Carolina in 1980, has worked since Feb. 3 as a full-time fund-raiser for South Carolina's College of Applied Professional Sciences. His annual salary, Allen said, is between $20,000 and $30,000.
He was arrested Saturday with Melvin Metz, 31, and Marcus Gilliam, 28, also a former South Carolina football player and the target of the drug raid. All three were released the same day after posting $5,000 bonds.
If convicted, they face a maximum of five years in prison.
Rogers, 31, also was implicated in a professional football drug scandal in 1982 while with the New Orleans Saints. He later underwent treatment at a drug rehabilitation center.
Ed Holler, Rogers' attorney, said he didn't know if his client was a drug addict or had a drug problem. "I don't think he has one, but I'm not a drug expert," he said.
Holler refused to comment on his client's defense. Police said Rogers was snorting cocaine when agents burst into a northwest Columbia apartment and arrested him and the two others.
"I don't know when there'll be a preliminary hearing. I've requested one," Holler said.
Jack Mills, Rogers' Denver-based agent, also refused comment.
Holler said Rogers lived in Columbia with his wife and three children, but refused to give an address. Rogers' phone number is unlisted.
Rogers, the NFL Rookie of the Year in 1981, spent seven years in professional football. He was the first-round pick by the Saints in 1981 and played four seasons in New Orleans before being traded to Washington.
After leaving the Redskins, Rogers returned to South Carolina, graduating from the university in May 1989 with a degree in interdisciplinary studies. He earned a living "doing speeches and banquets across the state" before he began working as a fund-raiser, Holler said.
During his pro career, Rogers gained 7,176 yards on 1,692 attempts and scored 54 touchdowns.
Evidence of Rogers' athletic achievements abounds in Columbia, where a street is named after him and his picture is painted in a mural on an outside wall of a building near the Statehouse.
A golf tournament to raise money for the George Rogers Scholarship Fund had been planned for April 25 at Timberlake Plantation Country Club in Columbia, but coordinator Robin Chandler said the event was canceled because of Rogers' arrest.
by CNB