National Football League

Former Lion Rogers ordered to jail for drinking

Published Jan. 6, 2010 9:25 a.m. ET

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Former Detroit Lions receiver Charles Rogers has been sentenced to 93 days in jail for contempt of court after apparently drinking too much and passing out at a Mexican restaurant.

Novi Deputy Police Chief Tom Lindberg says officers arrested Rogers on Tuesday at the suburban Detroit restaurant on a warrant for disobeying a sobriety court order. The order was imposed after Rogers pleaded guilty in September to impaired driving.

Lindberg says Rogers was visibly intoxicated Tuesday and was taken to a hospital. He spent the night in custody, and district Judge Robert Bondy sentenced him Wednesday.

Messages were left with Rogers lawyer Justin Barnett.

Rogers, a 28-year-old Saginaw native who starred at Michigan State, was the No. 2 NFL draft pick in 2003.

He reportedly tested positive for alcohol three times in November and also failed to show up for testing another time.

In a prior case in March, Rogers was sentenced to jail on a domestic assault charge, but was allowed to go to Sobriety Court instead. He later was caught forging documents stating he'd attended Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.

Rogers' brief tenure with the Lions was rocky thanks to injuries and substance abuse issues. The team suspended him in 2005 and released him a year later, contending he owes them two-thirds of a $9.1 million signing bonus.

His first season with the Lions started promising enough, but ended after five games when he broke his collarbone in practice. A second broken collarbone ended his second season in the first game.

He was a star at Michigan State, but after he left, the Detroit Free Press reported Rogers had failed a drug test each year he was there.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.

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