was so devastated by the injury that the Lions allowed him to go home for the remainder of the season. Years later, Lions general manager Matt Millen said that in hindsight, he made a mistake by letting Rogers be away from the team for an extended period of time. Rogers was suspended for four games in 2005 for a third violation of the NFL's substance abuse policy. As a result of this violation, the Lions filed a grievance, claiming that his drug suspension violated a clause in his contract, which meant Rogers was obligated to return $10 million of the $14.2 million the Lions gave him in bonuses. Upon his return from suspension, Rogers played only nine games, with three starts, and was declared inactive for four games. He caught 14 passes for 197 yards and one touchdown. On September 2, 2006, Rogers was released by the Lions. New coach Rod Marinelli was not impressed with Rogers' humdrum effort during training camp; he said of Rogers' release, "We picked the men that are right for this football team. It's behind us." He worked out thereafter for the Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2006. However, he was not signed due to his 40-yard dash times of 4.8 seconds. At his peak, he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.4 seconds. In October 2008, an arbitrator hired by the Lions ruled that Rogers had to repay the team $8.5 million. However, Rogers did not repay that money, and the Lions filed a lawsuit against him. In April 2010, U.S. federal judge Julian A. Cook ruled that Rogers had to pay $6.1 million of his signing bonus. In an interview in 2017, regarding the money owed the Lions, Rogers stated that he planned on filing for bankruptcy. NFL career statistics Personal life Rogers fathered eight children with four women. Two of the children were born before he graduated from high school. As of April 2017, Rogers had lived in Fort Myers, Florida and worked at an auto repair shop. On November 11, 2019, Rogers died in Fort Myers at age 38 of liver failure. He had been diagnosed with cancer and was in need of a liver transplant. Prescription opioid addiction Following the injuries he suffered during the early part of his career in Detroit, Rogers developed an addiction to the prescription opioid Vicodin, which contains acetaminophen, a product