Feature done on Eric Rogers by the MMQB.
“Chip gave me a call on the way to the airport,” Rogers remembers. “He said I was the first person he called.”
"He loves the game,” says 49ers G.M. Trent Baalke. “That really stood out to us. I think he really enjoys playing it. He's competitive, passionate, he works hard at it, and he's a fun guy to be around."
“They’ve asked me,#how did you get this guy?” says McEnroe, “In our program, we can’t look at kids and say what can he contribute immediately. We have to look at what kind of player he can grow into. He wasn’t even the best player on his high school team, but you can’t coach 6-3.”
Says McEnroe: “At one point he’s the best player in Division III football, and he’s asking me which cleaner to use to get heavy grass stains out.”
“That was the lowpoint,” he says. “Seven a.m. every day. I didn’t mind the work; I just knew I could play somewhere.”
“He didn’t tell us about that for months,” Murphy says. “We would’ve let him go see the birth, of course. Later on, he told us he was just scared to death to lose the opportunity.”
Says Rogers: “If I had to do it over I would’ve waited a few weeks before going up to Canada.” Instead, he played special teams for three months, fought for offensive practice reps and kept his mouth shut.
“He’s probably sitting there wondering why he left the arena league. Normally I’m getting calls from the agents or I’ve got the player asking when is he going to play,” Murphy says. “Not with these guys. He just kept working.”
“You could see the work he was putting in behind the scenes come alive,” Murphy says. “Time after time the stage wasn’t too big for him. We had to make some difficult choices that offseason.”
“I wrote that down in my notes,” Rogers says. “I was very appreciative of that.”
“There were always deficiencies in my game, and there still are,” Rogers says. “There are always ways to get better. But a lot of success depends on opportunity. I feel like I’m really getting an honest shot here.”
http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2016/03/22/e...nfl-chip-kelly