Roland Rivers III
Personal information | |||||
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Born: | Ellenwood, Georgia, U.S. | ||||
Height: | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||
Weight: | 230 lb (104 kg) | ||||
Career information | |||||
High school: | Martin Luther King (GA) | ||||
College: | Valdosta State (2014–2017) Slippery Rock (2018–2019) | ||||
Position: | Quarterback | ||||
Undrafted: | 2020 | ||||
Career history | |||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||
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Career USFL statistics as of Week 10, 2022 | |||||
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Player stats at NFL.com |
Roland Rivers III is an
Early life and education
Rivers was born in
Although Rivers received several offers from Division I-AA schools, he decided to accept an offer from Division II Valdosta State.[2] He redshirted as a freshman in 2014.[2] He was a member of the scout team that year.[2] As a redshirt-freshman in 2015, Rivers shared the starting quarterback position with E. J. Hilliard, helping lead the team to a 9–3 record while throwing for 548 yards and six touchdowns.[2][5]
Head coach David Dean and quarterbacks coach Justin Roper both left following the 2015 season, and the former was replaced by Kerwin Bell; Bell instituted his NFL-style offense, which "effectively tapped into Rivers' true potential," according to Pro Football Network.[2] Rivers won the starting job and helped lead Valdosta State to a 6–1 start.[2][6] However, in week eight, he suffered a torn labrum, which ended his season.[2] He finished his 2016 campaign with 1,312 passing yards and 13 touchdowns, as well as 99 rush attempts for 301 yards and three touchdowns.[7] He underwent surgery to repair his labrum in March 2017 and missed the entire 2017 season as a result.[2]
After fully recovering from his injury in early 2018, Rivers decided to transfer to
Rivers decided to return to Slippery Rock for his senior season rather than declare for the
After the season ended, Rivers was given numerous accolades.[2] He was named the Don Hansen National Player of the Year, a first-team Division II All-American by Associated Press (AP), Brian Westbrook Regional Player of the Year, and was awarded the Harlon Hill Trophy, given to the best player in Division II.[2] He became the first winner of the award from Slippery Rock in history, as well as the first winner from the PSAC west division.[2][9][10] In just 26 games across two seasons at Slippery Rock, Rivers had set several team records, including: most passing touchdowns (80), most total yards of offense per game (326.1), highest completion percentage (63.3), and best passing efficiency (164.1).[2] He finished his collegiate career with 686 passes completed on 1,107 attempts, 9,041 yards and 99 total touchdowns thrown.[7] He also ran for 1,723 yards on 434 attempts and scored 20 touchdowns.[7]
College statistics
Season | Games | Passing | Rushing | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GP | GS | Record | Comp | Att | Yards | Pct | TD | Int | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | |
2015 | 10 | – | 9–3 | 43 | 67 | 548 | 64.2 | 6 | 2 | 34 | 125 | 3.7 | 1 |
2016 | 8 | – | 8–3 | 123 | 218 | 1,312 | 56.4 | 13 | 8 | 99 | 301 | 3.0 | 3 |
2017 | 0 | – | 5–4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |
2018 | 12 | – | 11–3 | 198 | 341 | 2,721 | 58.1 | 28 | 12 | 137 | 597 | 4.4 | 7 |
2019 | 14 | – | 13–1 | 322 | 481 | 4,460 | 66.9 | 52 | 7 | 164 | 700 | 4.3 | 9 |
Career[7] | 44 | – | 46–14 | 686 | 1,107 | 9,041 | 61.9 | 99 | 29 | 434 | 1,723 | 3.9 | 20 |
Professional career
Rivers went unselected in the
Pittsburgh Maulers
In May 2022, Rivers was signed by the Pittsburgh Maulers of the United States Football League (USFL), who had compiled a 1–5 record by this point.[13][14] He started in the seventh game of the season, completing 18 of 38 passes for 218 yards and one touchdown in a loss to the New Jersey Generals.[15][16] He appeared in three other games as a backup, finishing the season with four games played, 32 completions out of 64 attempts, and 366 passing yards along with two touchdowns and an interception.[17] He was released after the season on January 2, 2023.[18]
Albany Empire
On May 5, 2023, Rivers signed with the Albany Empire of the National Arena League (NAL).[19] Two days later, Rivers was released by the Empire.
Career statistics
Season | Team | Games | Passing | Rushing | ||||||||||
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GP | GS | Record | Comp | Att | Yards | Pct | TD | Int | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | ||
2022 | PIT | 4 | 1 | 0–1 | 32 | 64 | 366 | 50.0 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 46 | 6.6 | 1 |
Career[17] | 4 | 1 | 0–1 | 32 | 64 | 366 | 50.0 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 46 | 6.6 | 1 |
References
- ^ "Roland Rivers III". espn.com. ESPN.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad DiCecco, Andrew (April 2, 2020). "Slippery Rock quarterback Roland Rivers III no stranger to new beginnings". profootballnetwork.com. Pro Football Network.
- ^ "Roland Rivers III". rockathletics.com. Slippery Rock University.
- ^ a b c Matous, Oscar (October 17, 2018). "From third-string to starter: Roland Rivers III's journey to being one of the PSAC's top quarterbacks". theonlinerocket.com. The Rocket.
- ^ "2015 Football Schedule". vstateblazers.com. Valdosta State Blazers.
- ^ Wachter, Jamie (August 31, 2016). "Rivers named VSU's starting quarterback". Valdosta Daily Times.
- ^ a b c d "Roland Rivers III Stats". footballdb.com.
- ^ "2018 Football Schedule". rockathletics.com. Slippery Rock University.
- ^ "SRU's Roland Rivers III wins Harlon Hill Trophy". sru.edu. Slippery Rock University. December 20, 2019.
- ^ Moyer, Eric (December 20, 2019). "Slippery Rock's Roland Rivers III wins the 2019 Harlon Hill Trophy". ncaa.com. National Collegiate Athletic Association.
- ^ a b MacAfee, Greg (May 15, 2020). "Ex-Slippery Rock QB Roland Rivers stays ready as he awaits opportunity". triblive.com. Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
- ^ a b Davis, Josh (May 11, 2021). "Roland Rivers III Accepts Steelers Rookie Camp Invite". Sports Illustrated.
- ^ Cupp, Bob (May 25, 2022). "USFL's Maulers ink former SRU QB Rivers". butlerradio.com. Butler Radio.
- ^ Ventre, Ralph (May 26, 2022). "Small-Schooler Players Shine in USFL Week 6". Sports Illustrated.
- ^ McGonigal, Johnny (June 4, 2022). "Roland Rivers, Maulers' late-game push falls short in loss to Generals". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
- ^ "Inconsistent in spot start". rotowire.com. RotoWire. June 4, 2022.
- ^ a b "Roland Rivers Stats". Pro Football Archives.
- ^ @USFLMaulers (January 2, 2023). "Released" (Tweet). Retrieved January 2, 2023 – via Twitter.
- ^ "2023 NAL Transactions". nationalarenaleague.com.