FanHouse RodneyRogers

Rodney Rogers is still suffering from the effects -- namely being paralyzed from the neck down -- of an ATV accident that occurred over Thanksgiving weekend. And what makes it worse, as detailed in the New York Times' profile of Rogers accident, is that when you really find out about Rogers' life, you realize two very important things.

First of all, he overcame a lot to get to where he was in life.

"His dad was a driver and used to take him out when Rodney was very young," Williams said. But Wadsworth left the family and died when Rogers was 8.

It got worse during Rogers's sophomore year in high school when his mother, Estelle Rogers Spencer, was in a near-fatal car accident and needed lengthy rehabilitation from injuries that included brain trauma. But a guardian angel appeared in the form of Nathaniel Brooks, who had coached one of Rogers's youth teams.

And secondly, he gave back more to the community and those around him than anyone might have really known, simply because he kept such a low, humble profile.

"I always told Rodney we were proud of him, not because he was a rich basketball player," Brooks said. Just the man who came home and built a computer lab in the projects, financed a youth football team, volunteered as a girls basketball coach, went to work as a public servant.

Which, considering all the self-centered actions that occur in today's world, is what makes this so freaking hard to stomach. If you have any sort of belief in fate, karma or higher powers, Rogers is the last person that you would ever expect to suffer this kind of accident.

And while the possibility that Rogers will be able to do the physical things he did before seems right around slim-to-none, he also profiles out as exactly the type of person that could somehow end up overcoming this sort of debilitating injury and turning the remainder of his life into a positive for the community around him.

Rodney Rogers' NBA career probably didn't pan out like anyone who watched him at Wake Forest thought it would; for those of us who grew up in his heyday as a Demon Deacon, he was legendary for his all-around game and ridiculous upper torso that allowed him to play almost any spot on the floor.

And now, sadly, Rogers, according to the News and Observer, is paralyzed from the shoulders down after a recent four wheeling accident near Raleigh.

Dave Odom, Rogers' coach when Rogers was an All-America basketball player at Wake Forest University, said Wednesday that his former star is paralyzed from the shoulders down. Rogers, 37, was recently transferred from Duke Hospital to the Shepherd Center in Atlanta. The center's mission is to help people who have experienced a catastrophic injury.

"Say a prayer for Rodney and his family,'' Odom said.

And, as noted by the N&O article, this isn't just a loss for Rogers and his family, it's a loss for the city of Durham and fans of the former Deac everywhere; Rogers was considered one of the most charitable members of the city and, more or less, a hero to many of its citizens.

Oddly enough, despite being "financially set", Rogers went to work for Durham's Public Works Department, managing/driving many of their larger trucks ... just because he wanted a challenging day job. In other words, this is one of those tragedies that won't ever make sense or have any air of rationality about it. Like Odom said, thoughts and prayers are with Rodney and his family, knowing that the only sliver of a silver lining is that Rogers will find a way to benefit the community and other people through his suffering.