James Rodgers Jr. (born December 20, 1988) is an American football coach and former wide receiver who is the wide receivers coach for the New Jersey Generals of the United States Football League (USFL). He signed with the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

as an undrafted free agent following the

2012 NFL Draft The 2012 NFL draft was the 77th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players for their rosters. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for Oregon State University. He has also played for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League (CFL). As a coach, he served as the outside linebackers coach for the San Antonio Commanders of the

Alliance of American Football The Alliance of American Football (AAF) was a professional American football minor league. The AAF consisted of eight centrally owned and operated teams in the southern and western United States, seven of which were located in metropolitan are ...

in 2019.

High school career

Rodgers attended Lamar Consolidated High School in Richmond, Texas, where he played wide receiver and

free safety Safety is a position in gridiron football on the defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two variations of the position: the free safety and the strong safety. Their dut ...

. He was the 2005 and 2006 District MVP and First-team All-State. He was also a star basketball and

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

athlete.

College career

Rodgers attended Oregon State University where he majored in speech communication and minored in ethnic studies. As a freshman in

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, Rodgers appeared in 13 games, recording 50 rushes for 586 yards, and three touchdowns. He also recorded 19 receptions for 208 yards and one touchdown. He also returned five kickoffs for 122 yards. In

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, as a sophomore, he appeared in start 12 games. He recorded 46 carries for 408 yards, and five touchdowns. He also recorded 51 receptions for 607 yards, and four touchdowns. He also recorded 33 kickoff returns for 818 yards, and one touchdown. He was named the First-team All-

conference A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main p ...

as a kick returner. As a junior in

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, he started 13 games. He recorded 58 carries for 346 yards and one touchdown. He also recorded 91 receptions for 1,034 yards and nine touchdowns. He also recorded 36 kick returns for 840 yards as well as 13 punt returns for 151 yards. In

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

as a senior, he started four games. He recorded eight carries for 38 yards. He also recorded 16 receptions for 215 yards, and two touchdowns. He also recorded 12 kickoff returns for 344 yards as well as six punt returns for 110 yards, and one touchdown. On October 9, 2010, he suffered a

knee In humans and other primates, the knee joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two joints: one between the femur and tibia (tibiofemoral joint), and one between the femur and patella (patellofemoral joint). It is the largest joint in the hu ...

injury that ended his season, allowing him to receive a medical redshirt. He returned in

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

, as a redshirt senior and started nine games. He recorded 11 carries for 75 yards. He also recorded 45 receptions for 514 yards and three touchdowns. In his career at Oregon State, Rodgers set the Oregon State career record with 6,377 all-purpose yards. He was also the first player in school history to record 1,000 yards rushing and 2,000 yards receiving for his career. He also finished his career second on the school's list for career kick return yardage (2,124). He finished third in school history with 19 touchdown receptions. He finished sixth all-time in school history in punt return average (13.7). Recorded 41 consecutive games with a pass reception. He finished fourth in school history in career receiving yards (2,582). He also finished second on the school's all-time career receptions list (222).

College statistics

Track and field

Rodgers was also a track star at Oregon State. He competed in the

100 meters The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contest ...

and the

200 meters The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

, posting personal bests of 10.33 seconds and 22.05 seconds.

Personal bests

Professional career

2012 NFL Combine

Atlanta Falcons

After going undrafted in the

, Rodgers signed with the

on April 30, 2012. He was released August 31, 2012. On September 12, he was signed to the Falcons'

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

, where he spent the entire season. Before the start of the 2013 season, Rodgers was waived again, but he was re-signed to the practice squad.

Montreal Alouettes

Rodgers was signed to the Montreal Alouettes' practice roster on August 6, 2014. In

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, he appeared in 10 games. He recorded seven receptions for 88 yards and one touchdown. He recorded 12 carries for 60 yards and one touchdown. He also recorded 11 kickoff returns for 206 yards, as well as 58 punt returns for 467 yards, and one touchdown.

Coaching career

Nebraska

In August 2016, Rodgers joined the University of Nebraska athletic department as a graduate manager and player personnel intern.

San Antonio Commanders (AAF)

In 2018, he became the running backs coach for his former college coach, Mike Riley, and the San Antonio Commanders of the

. Shortly after being hired, he was switched to be the outside linebackers coach.

New Jersey Generals (USFL)

In March of 2022, Rodgers reunited with Riley when he joined his staff as the wide receivers coach for the New Jersey Generals of the USFL.

Personal

Rodgers is the son of Tasha Williams and James Rodgers, Sr. He is also the nephew of retired safety Michael Lewis. He also has three siblings, including Jacquizz Rodgers, a former NFL running back, who he was also teammates with during his tenure at Oregon State.

References

External links

OSU Beavers football bio

Atlanta Falcons bio

Montreal Alouettes bio

Nebraska Cornhuskers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodgers, James Living people American football wide receivers People from Rosenberg, Texas Players of American football from Fort Bend County, Texas 1988 births Oregon State Beavers football players Atlanta Falcons players Oakland Raiders players San Antonio Commanders coaches New Jersey Generals (2022) coaches