To add a little more detail to what Scottsdale wrote . . .

Posted on: October 14, 2020 at 09:43:49 CT

My Dad, Clay Cooper was Roger's position coach at Mizzou. Roger first caught the attention of my father and Dan Devine, during the 1964 Class A Missouri State High School Indoor Track meet, which, up until the early 1970s, was conducted in old Brewer Field House. The coaches' offices in those days were located in the basement of Rothwell Gym, which was attached to Brewer, so it was not unusual for the football coaches to walk over to Brewer and watch the high school track championships. Roger demonstrated his incredible athleticism at that 1964 meet, which prompted Clay to request film from his high school football coach. The film was shot in 8mm B&W, under the poor lighting conditions of a rural high school stadium and, as a result, was almost useless. Nonetheless, Clay thought Roger's "raw athletic ability" was enough to offer him a scholarship. Literally the LAST football scholarship left that year. Scottsdale is correct that, up until that point, Roger was headed to Northwest Missouri State. And as they say, "the rest is history." Roger is, to the best of my knowledge, one of only two MU grads in the NFL HOF. The other being Kellen Winslow.

Edited by Tigerborn at 11:10:23 on 10/14/20