The Detroit Lions top 7 ‘buyer remorse’ first-round draft choices
By Robert Jones
Buyer Remorse draft pick #4 – Reggie Rogers
In 1987 Lions head coach Darryl Rogers decided they needed to bolster the defense. So on April 28th, 1987, Detroit used the seventh overall pick to select defensive tackle, Reggie Rogers. This was a pick that definitely went down in infamy.
Rogers had emotional issues that seemed to stem from his brother’s death in 1986, and he spent much of his time in Detroit getting counseling for it. Due to his emotional problems, he only played six games his rookie season. Then he followed that up by only playing five games his second season which ended after being involved in a car accident that killed three teenagers.
Rogers was subsequently released later because the accident had broken his neck, although he would return to the NFL with brief stints in Buffalo and Tampa Bay after serving time for accidental homicide.
The Pittsburgh Steelers used the 10th selection in the 1987 draft to acquire Purdue cornerback Rod Woodson. For anyone who was around at that time and followed the game, they know that Woodson was a shutdown cornerback whose only weakness was Barry Sanders.
In 1995 Woodson suffered a torn ACL against the Lions when his foot got caught in the artificial surface at old Three Rivers Stadium attempting to tackle Sanders. Woodson returned to play in the Super Bowl against the Dallas Cowboys that same season, but his knee wouldn’t allow him to finish the game.
Yet despite the injury, Woodson played 17 seasons, the last few at safety, and would be recognized as one of the great players in NFL history. An outstanding athlete who not only dominated in the secondary but was one of the leagues’ premier return men as well.
Like many others the Lions could have had, Woodson now resides in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, unlike the Reggie Rogers tragedy, which certainly goes down as not only one of the biggest ‘buyer regret’ draft picks the Lions ever made, but in NFL history as well.