How a former Westhill star cut by the Bills created one of the most touching moments on Hard Knocks

Former Westhill star Casey Rogers competed throughout the summer for a roster spot with the Buffalo Bills. Despite making some plays over the course of training camp, Rogers was not able to do enough to claim a spot in Buffalo’s defensive tackle room.

Rogers, whether he would admit it or not, saw the writing on the wall heading into roster cuts and HBO’s Hard Knocks was able to chronicle the moment.

On the eve of cutdown day, Rogers went to a dinner with his fellow defensive linemen. During the dinner, Rogers shared that his summer with the Bills was the best of his professional career. Part of that was due to being so close to his family, that is based in Syracuse, New York. The other reason why it was Rogers’ favorite camp had to do with his teammates.

“You guys were able to wrap your arms around me and bring me along,” Rogers told DaQuan Jones and his other teammates. “(You) just made it fun. Real talk. I usually hate fall camp. I woke up every day excited to be with you guys. Just real talk. That’s just how I felt. I’ve never had that before.”

With cuts looming, Rogers asked his teammates to sign a football so he could always remember his 2025 summer.

“I know I’ve been having you guys sign a lot of footballs, but this one is for me. I just wanted to say, we all don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow, like (DaQuan) said, but this has been one of the best summers slash fall camps I’ve ever been around. If you all could sign this for me, it’s going in my basement. It’ll be there forever, and every time I look at it, I’ll just remember you guys. Appreciate you guys.”

Unfortunately for Rogers, his time with Buffalo came to an end the next day. Although he did not make the team, general manager Brandon Beane had high praise for the Syracuse native.

“That was a very competitive room that Casey was in,” Beane told the Hard Knocks crew. “A very steep hill to climb. Thought Casey did some things, thought he was ascending as camp closed. Saw him make some plays. He’s one of those guys that left it all on the table. He should not hold his head down or anything like that.”

While his time with the Bills came to an end, Rogers was happy to live out his dream.

“Never allow someone to tell you that you can’t do something,” Rogers told Hard Knocks. “It was a lifelong dream of mine to play for the Bills, and I was able to do that.”