Dacor Tremaine "Cory" Rodgers (born February 22, 1983) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private university, private research university in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison Clark, Addison and Randolph Clark as the AddRan Male & Female College. It i ...

Early life

Rodgers attended

Hightower High School Hightower High School is a secondary school (grades 9–12) located at 3333 Hurricane Lane, Missouri City, Texas, Missouri City, Texas, United States, adjacent to Fort Bend Parkway, The Fort Bend Parkway Toll Road. Hightower is administered by ...

Missouri City, Texas Missouri City is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, within the metropolitan area. The city is mostly in Fort Bend County, with a small portion in Harris County. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 74,259, an increas ...

and was a student and a letterman in football. In football, he played quarterback for the Hurricanes, and was a two-time All-District selection, and as a senior, he was an All-State selection. During his junior and senior years, he accounted for 62 touchdowns (37 passing, 25 rushing) and over 5,000 yards of total offense.

College career

During Rodgers' three seasons playing at

TCU TCU may stand for: Education * Tanzania Commission for Universities, regulatory body for Universities in Tanzania * Texas Christian University, a private university in Fort Worth, Texas ** TCU Horned Frogs, the athletic programs of the school * Tok ...

(2003–2005), he was a crowd favorite with the fans in Fort Worth and even had his own official fan club. This was due to his exceptional athleticism, versatility, and aggressive play. Cory Rodgers has the nickname "CO-RO", this can be seen since Cory has a tattoo of "CO" on the back of his left calf and "RO" on his right. Cory Rodgers wore the number 17 during his tenure at TCU. As a

redshirt freshman Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

in 2003, he was second on the team with 37 receptions for 590 yards and 5 touchdowns. He also rushed 17 times for 39 yards and 3 touchdowns, and averaged 22.1 yards per return on kickoffs and 11.0 yards per return on punts. His 861 total return yards broke the school record previously set by

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy ( ; also known simply as the Heisman) is awarded annually since 1935 to the top player in college football. It is considered the most prestigious award in the sport and is presented by the Heisman Trophy Trust followin ...

winner

Davey O'Brien Robert David O'Brien (June 22, 1917 – November 18, 1977) was an American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) with the Philadelphia Eagles for two seasons. He played college football for the TCU Horned Frogs, w ...

in 1937. He was honored on the

Conference USA Conference USA (CUSA) is a collegiate athletic conference of member institutions in the Southern and Western United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. CUSA's offices are located in Dallas, Texas. Mem ...

All-Freshman as both a wide receiver and punt returner and was the third-team punt returner on the All-CUSA team. As a sophomore in 2004, he led the team with 61 receptions for 836 yards and 7 touchdowns. He also rushed 12 times for 35 yards and 2 touchdowns, and averaged 23.3 yards per return on kickoffs and 10.2 yards per return on punts. His 906 total return yards broke his own school record. He was honored on the All-CUSA team as the third-team wide receiver and kick returner. As a junior in 2005, he again led the team with 52 receptions for 685 yards and 5 touchdowns. He also rushed 17 times for 41 yards and 5 touchdowns, and averaged 30.3 yards per return on kickoffs and 15.3 yards per return on punts. He had two kick returns for touchdowns (87 yards vs. SMU, 100 yards vs. BYU), which tied him for the most in the nation. He was honored by the

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States, participating in NCAA Division I. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The MW officially began operations on Ja ...

as the first-team All-MWC return specialist and as a third-team wide receiver. He was named the first-team

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

kick returner by

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Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

and the Walter Camp Football Foundation. After the 2005 season, Cory decided to forgo his senior season and declared himself eligible for the

2006 NFL draft The 2006 NFL draft, the 71st in league history, took place in New York City, New York, at Radio City Music Hall on April 29 and April 30, 2006. For the 27th consecutive year, the draft was telecast on ESPN and ESPN2, with additional coverage offe ...

Professional career

On April 30, 2006, Rodgers was selected by the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

in the fourth round of the

, the 104th overall pick. In May 2006, Rodgers was arrested for his role in a fight outside of a Fort Worth bar, but was later given probation. On July 25, 2006, Rodgers officially signed a contract with the

, but on September 2, 2006, Rodgers was released by the Packers in the final round of cuts to the 53 man roster to begin the 2006 season. On September 4, 2006, Rodgers signed to the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

practice squad but was later released on September 26, 2006. In June of the

2007 CFL season The 2007 CFL season was the 54th season of modern-day Canadian football, the 50th season of the Canadian Football League, and many special events were held to commemorate the event. Regular-season play began on June 28 at the Rogers Centre in ...

, Rodgers made his debut with the

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions playe ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

. In his debut season with the Lions, he caught 27 passes for 351 yards and for 3 touchdowns. He was released on July 8, 2009. On July 23, 2009, he was signed to the practice roster of the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team based in Toronto, Ontario. The Argonauts compete in the East Division (CFL), East Division of t ...

. Rodgers was later activated and played in his first game as an Argonaut on August 1, 2009, at home against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. In his Argo debut, Rodgers had 6 receptions for 54 yards while also making 1 punt return for 11 yards. Rodgers was later released by the Argos on September 1, 2009.

References

External links

Cory Rodgers' ''argonauts.ca'' biography

''Yahoo! Sports'' Player Profile - Cory Rodgers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodgers, Cory 1983 births Living people American football wide receivers BC Lions players Canadian football return specialists Canadian football slotbacks Canadian football wide receivers Players of American football from Houston TCU Horned Frogs football players Toronto Argonauts players 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen Players of Canadian football from Houston Green Bay Packers players San Francisco 49ers players