Playing for the NFL is a dream a lot of young kids have when they start their football careers. The few who make it have the privilege of having careers that include accolades, championships, lifelong memories and for the truly lucky, maybe a trip to the Super Bowl.
The National Football League gets its players from all over the world. Some are rags-to-riches stories. Others come from what can be considered NFL “royalty,” like the Archie Manning family. At least three have started that coveted trip in Augusta.
[adrotate banner=”31″]
In honor of Super Bowl 55 today, we wanted to take a look at some of the NFL players who came from Augusta.
The most recognizable name on this list has to be former coach Ken Whisenhunt. Whisenhunt was born in Augusta and attended the Academy of Richmond County.
Whisenhunt would go on to play for Georgia Tech as a tight end from 1981 to 1984. He played there for four years and was named to the All-ACC team his junior and senior seasons. He would be drafted in the 12th draft round of 1985 by the Atlanta Falcons. His playing career lasted until 1992, and he would also play for the Washington Redskins and New York Jets.
Whisenhunt is most known, however, for his coaching career. Starting off as a special teams and tight end coach, for Vanderbilt in 1995, he worked his way up the coaching ladder. He would be named the Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator in 2004 and be part of their Super Bowl XL team that would win against the Seattle Seahawks.
[adrotate banner=”13″]
In 2007, Wishenhunt was named head coach of the Arizona Cardinals, where he would lead the team to a Super Bowl appearance in his second season as a head coach. The Cardinals let Whisenhunt go in 2012. Most recently, he was with the San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers as offensive coordinator until they fired him in 2019.
Another notable player with Augusta connections is Carlos Rogers. Rogers attended Butler High School and would attend college at Auburn University. He played 44 games for Auburn from 2001-2004 and is a member of the Auburn All-Decade team in the 2000s.
Rogers was drafted 9th overall by the Washington Redskins in 2005. He would play for the franchise from 2005-2010 before signing with the San Francisco 49ers in 2011. In his first season with the 49ers, Rogers earned his first Pro Bowl selection and was named Second Team All-Pro by the Associated Press.
Rogers would play with the Niners from 2011-2013, appearing in Super Bowl XLVII against the Baltimore Ravens. He would play one more season in 2014 with the Oakland Raiders. Rogers finished his NFL Career with 481 tackles and 17 interceptions.
The last player to mention is Deon Grant. A graduate of Josey High School, Grant would play for the University of Tennessee, where he would be a part of a team that won the BCS National Championship in 1998. Drafted in the second round of the 2000 NFL draft by the Carolina Panthers, Grant would play 11 NFL seasons with the Panthers, Jaguars, Seahawks, and New York Giants. In Grant’s, final year in the league, he would appear in Super Bowl XLVI as a member of the New York Giants. They would go on to defeat the New England Patriots 21-17.
RiverGracey is a contributor for The Augusta Press. Reach him at River.Gracey@TheAugustaPRESS.com
[adrotate banner=”41″]
