Aflac Kickoff Game Officials announced Monday that Ron Rogers and Amobi Okoye will serve as honorary captains for their respective alma maters at 7:30 p.m. Friday when Georgia Tech faces Louisville at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
At Tech, Rogers started 32 games where he had 11 tackles for loss, four sacks and four interceptions. Rogers ranks third in program history with 435 career tackles, ninth in single season tackles with 145 (1995 season) and third in program history for tackles in a single game (21 vs. Clemson). Rogers was selected in the sixth round of the 1998 NFL Draft by Baltimore.
Okoye began his collegiate career at the age of 16 and played for the Cardinals from 2003-06. During his senior year, Okoye started all 13 games registering 55 tackles and eight sacks. He also recovered three fumbles. Okoye later became the youngest player to ever be drafted in the first round of the NFL Draft at 19 when he was selected 10th overall by Houston.
Each honorary captain will be accompanied by a Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta patient from the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center who is a fan of the teams playing in this year’s game. Joining Rogers at midfield will be Will Chastain, a freshman at Georgia Tech studying Industrial Systems and Engineering, who was diagnosed last December with an ultra-rare vascular cancer, epithelioid hemangioendothelioma. Okoye will be accompanied by Drew Lawrence, a 12-year-old Cardinals fan who has spent the last three years fighting acute lymphocytic leukemia at Children’s.
