Paralyzed Rogers leads Wake Forest on field

WINSTON-SALEM -- Paralyzed former Wake Forest and NBA player Rodney Rogers has been honored before the Demon Deacons' football game against Elon.

Wearing a black Wake Forest jersey, the wheelchair-bound Rogers received a standing ovation as his career highlights were shown. Accompanied by former Wake basketball coach Dave Odom, Rogers was mobbed by the players as they ran onto the field.

The 38-year-old Rogers injured his spinal cord riding a dirt bike in November 2008 and is a quadriplegic. It was his first public appearance at Wake Forest since the accident.

Rogers was the Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year in 1993, when he was a first-round pick of the Denver Nuggets. He played 12 seasons in the NBA and won the league's Sixth Man Award in 2000 with the Phoenix Suns.

-- Associated Press