Mister Rogers’ neighbourhood is the end zone.
Eric Rogers has scored a receiving touchdown in six straight games so his teammates have been used to reviewing tape and seeing No. 80 catching TDs.
“Whenever we watch game film and everyone sees my touchdowns they say, “Mister Rogers back in his neighbourhood’ – they call the end zone my neighbourhood. That’s the one I hear the most. It’s just like the old television show,” Rogers says.
“We play on Halloween this year so I might come dressed up as Mister Rogers for the game.”
Rogers has looked awfully comfortable in his new neighbourhood. He’s produced nine touchdowns in his first 10 CFL games. Only one player in league history has produced more receiving majors in their first 10 games than Rogers; Curtis Mayfield had 12 in his first 10 games for Las Vegas in 1994.
“Sometimes the play is designed with me as the first read and other times they blow up coverage and I’m running right down the seam wide open,” Rogers says. “There have been times where we get inside the 30-yard line take shots at the end zone and Bo is comfortable throwing the ball up to me.”
“I would say the touchdowns is partially the play calls that highlight certain guys but Eric can run different types of routes and he’s also a matchup problem with DBs, offensive coordinator Dave Dickenson adds.
Calgary’s offensive play-caller spent four seasons throwing to and playing with the best receiver in Stampeders’ history, Allen Pitts. And Dickenson sees similarities between Rogers and Pitts.
“Of course, Allen did it for many, many years and kept himself at a high level, but they’re both long striders and they both get on top of the defenders real fast. They have great hands and catch the ball at the high point. I think both are tougher and more durable than what you’d expect with them being such gangly guys,” Dickenson explains.
“Allen was such a great change-of-direction guy and Eric is still learning to run some of the routes up on this field, but he’s certainly a guy whose body type does remind you of Allen Pitts.”
Making an instant impact is also something Rogers and Pitts have in common. Back in 1990, Pitts’ rookie season, he racked up 1,172 receiving yards and six touchdowns in 18 games. Rogers has surpassed that touchdown total already and he’s on pace to best Pitts’ yardage total over his first 18 career games.
“I don’t know if Allen was necessarily that guy who would run by people — I think Eric has better top-end speed — but with most of the DBs in our league being undersized, they both have that height that allows them to be a matchup problem on the goal line,” Dickenson says.
Being mentioned in the same breath as a CFL legend like Pitts is humbling for Rogers.
“He had a great career because he stayed healthy,” Rogers says about Pitts. “That’s the most important part is to stay reliable for your team each and every week.”
In Rogers’ most recent trip to the end zone he made a spectacular Hail Mary grab with defenders surrounding him.
“Bo threw the ball further than I expected,” Rogers explains. “I was running down and I stopped and looked at the ball, I tracked it pretty well, which is the most important part of it. You have to track the ball so you can get two feet underneath you so you can jump up strong and go up with two hands. When I caught the ball I had to hold it as tight as I could because I knew they were going to be fighting for it and I came down with it.”
That catch resulted in a 46-yard score and it’s the longest reception of Rogers’ career to date.
“I have a big catch radius, so Bo says that he’s comfortable with putting the ball in pretty much any position and he’s confident that I’ll come down with it. When a quarterback has that much confidence in you they can be more confident throwing you the ball in any situation,” Rogers says.
After making the miraculous touchdown reception he faked the Rider crowd out by making them think he was going to give them the football, instead he pulled out a Dikembe Mutombo-like finger wag. It was different from Rogers’ usual touchdown celebration.
“I normally sprinkle a little [imaginary] powder on the ball, shake it up, throw it down and hit my chest. It could be sugar, baby powder, sprinkles, anything you want,” Rogers says.
He was adamant that it’s not patterned off LeBron James’ pre-game talcum powder toss ritual.
“No, no, no, I don’t want to be associated with LeBron. I’m a Kobe guy,” Rogers says emphatically.
As important and fun as scoring touchdowns can be, the Stampeders’ second-year pass catcher doesn’t want to be just a six-point specialist.
“I want to be an all-around receiver, catching deep balls, go across the middle, grab outs and move the chains,” Rogers says. “As a competitor you want to help your team win by getting first downs and changing field position, which are key elements for winning in the CFL.”
Rogers takes pride in being savvy out on the field and he’s enjoying the new responsibilities that have come along with moving into his former teammates spot. He moved inside to slot from wide out.
“Last year I played mostly on the outside so I didn’t have to worry too much about reading defences and picking up blitzers. This year I moved to Nik’s position and I remembered how he did things, I can’t block as well as him, but I tend to get in the way of guys. Seeing Nik [Lewis] and Marquay [McDaniel] and how they handled their blocking responsibilities or if they blitz running a slant or quick out – you pick up little stuff in the film room from them.”
Rogers has quickly learned the different nuances that go along with playing closer to the quarterback in the slot. That’s allowed Rogers to develop a strong trust and rapport with Bo Levi Mitchell and been the main factor behind Rogers creating a rather permanent neighbourhood for himself in the end zone.
