Alabama’s Rogers Injured in Car Crash

Alabama’s second-leading tackler, linebacker Michael Rogers, was hospitalized in serious condition Thursday after a pre-dawn automobile accident in Greenville, Ala.

Rogers sustained a head injury, cuts and scrapes in the crash, which killed another man and injured a third person.

Doctors at Baptist Medical Center in Montgomery initially said Rogers was in fair condition after being treated in the emergency room, but after he was moved to the intensive care unit they decided his condition should be downgraded because of the nature of the head injury, according to hospital spokesman Rick Derrick.

The second-ranked Crimson Tide will play No. 1 Miami in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1 for the national championship. Coach Gene Stallings said Rogers will not play even if he is released from the hospital today.

Rogers, a sophomore with 68 tackles, was a passenger in a car that hit a culvert at about 3:15 a.m. EST in Butler County.

“The car rolled over,” state trooper Lt. George Smith said.

James Derrick Patterson, 21, died in the crash, Smith said. Another passenger, Daniel Richburg, was listed in good condition at the Montgomery hospital, Smith said, and driver Lamont Jones had only minor injuries.

Doctors said Rogers’ injuries are not life-threatening.

Rogers and the two others were on their way home from a nightclub. Stallings said the players were not under curfew Wednesday night.