PLYMOUTH — As a child Chris Rogerson’s first few steps turned into a sprint, which might explain why when the Plymouth High School star athlete got a chance to kick for the football team as a junior he ran with the opportunity.
Two years later Rogerson’s feet have afforded him the chance to play football for N.C Wesleyan next season and opened the door for him to get on the diamond as well after he accepted a scholarship that allows him to play both football and baseball for the Div. III Battling Bishops next season.
Rogerson, a two-time Washington Daily News All-Area second baseman has always considered baseball his true love and said the idea of playing football on the collegiate level a few years ago seemed as distant as one of his booming punts.
“I never would have thought that would happen,” Rogerson said. “That just popped up my 11th grade year because (Plymouth football coach Robert) Cody asked me to go out and kick and it just went from there. I never would have believed this would happen.”
On the high school level the kicking game is always a bit of an adventure and team’s that have a quality kicker or punter are few and far between, which is why when Cody spotted Rogerson kicking in gym class he kicked into action.
“I saw him one day in P.E. class and he was kicking pretty good,” Cody said. “We needed a punter, we don’t have many punters walking around this school and I knew he played soccer growing up so we thought he might be a good one.”
That he was. Rogerson was also pretty good on the baseball field as he hit near .400 as a junior last season and drew interest from several schools before agreeing to play for N.C. Wesleyan.
“Methodist, College of the Albemarle and St. Andrews were looking but N.C. Wesleyan just showed the most interest,” Rogerson said. “They called me every two or three weeks and kept in contact with me and that was both coaches, football and baseball.”
Plymouth High School baseball coach Terry Perry said that he has enjoyed coaching Rogerson for the past few years.
“He’s just a good kid to be around,” Perry said. “He was a big part of our team last year … and defensively he played really well for us this year.”
Rogerson has lettered on the football, basketball and baseball teams during his varsity career and has had varied success in each sport. Rogerson has been a star on the baseball team and a quick learner on the gridiron, but during hoops season had a closer affiliation with the pine than the hardwood. Rogerson’s mother Christy said that playing different roles on each team has been a beneficial experience.
“I know it’s made him a better person because he played all three sports,” Christy Said. “He’s seen all sides. He’s sat the bench in basketball and played when he could, he’s been a starter in baseball and a starter for football. He’s seen it all and I think that’s made him appreciate things and work harder.”
Chris said making the Bishops football team as a punter/kicker might have been a bit of a shock, but Christy said that her son’s love for sports was evident from the time he was child.
“Christopher never walked, when he took his first steps he literally ran across the floor,” Christy said. “He has kicked something or thrown something or made something into a ball since he was little. It was obvious to me that he always wanted to play sports.”
Despite Rogerson’s obvious obsession with sports, his father Rodney, who played football for Plymouth High School as well, never forced his onto the playing fields.
“When you have children you never really want to push them into sports, we just always told them anything they wanted to be a part of we would help them out as best as we could and that’s what his mother and I have done,” Rogerson said. “We’ve just been real fortunate that they always played sports and kept their grades up … I never thought as a parent that standing behind a fence and hollering at him is going to make him hit a ball. I figure he’s either going to hit the ball or not so we just tried to encourage him.”