Glendale Raptors & Blake Rogers

The Glendale Raptors have signed Blake Rogers to his second Major League Rugby contract with the team. Blake is 24-years-old, 6’1″, 260 pounds and plays prop.

Blake is from Colusa, California and went to Jesuit High School Sacramento from 2008-2012. He played football for 4 years, baseball as a Freshman and Sophomore, and rugby beginning his Junior year.

He was first exposed to rugby in 8th grade at age 13. Blake went to watch an older brother’s match, who was playing for the University of Nevada at Reno and thought it was an amazing sport. Next thing he was given a pair of shorts and boots by a senior player and told go on the field, playing in a B side match. He played against 20-year-old players and learned the game in the process.

Blake reflected on that day saying “I remember my brother convincing my mom that I would be okay and nothing bad would happen, and I’m standing there like what the hell am I getting myself into. The best memory from that day though was during the game one of the other guys on the team shouted “does that guy shave his legs or something? There’s no body hair on this guy.” And I just remember my brother from the sidelines yelling, ‘Its cuz he’s only 13, and you’re still losing.'”

He attended the University of Colorado in Boulder from 2012-2016, graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and Real Estate.

Blake played rugby at Colorado and was a D1A West Conference first-team selection in 2014 through 2016.

Blake has played with the Glendale Raptors since January 2017 and provides stability in the front row and contributes to the team being one of the best teams in set pieces.

Blake also reflected on his best rugby memories saying “Some of my best experiences so far have been on this Raptors team. The friendships made and the bonds formed off and on the pitch is something special for sure. Even the travel we get to do is amazing. I know we don’t travel overseas or anything, but even being able to see different parts of our wide and diverse country while playing a sport is a dream come true.”