Craig Roh made an impact on just about every person he met.
The standout at Chaparral High School, the University of Michigan and multiple NFL and CFL franchises left a legacy that stretches well beyond the gridiron.
His impact is still felt today, and he’ll be honored at his high school on Friday night.
Craig passed away this past spring at the age of 33 from colon cancer. He is survived by his wife, three-year-old son, parents and three siblings.
Members of Craig’s family will be in attendance for the ceremony, as well as current ASU assistant head coach Charlie Ragle, who was Craig’s high school coach. Chaparral will play Desert Mountain, who is coached by Conrad Hamilton. Hamilton was Craig’s defensive coordinator at Chaparral in 2009.
“Craig was really my first big time, big time player in terms of national recruits,” Ragle said. “As good of a player that he was, I mean he had everybody (recruiting him), he was a better human being.”
Roh was an All-American at Chaparral and one of the most recruited players of the decade. I can tell you first-hand as a classmate of Craig’s that he was the model of consistency. On the field, in the classroom, in the community. He was a 4.0+ GPA student throughout his time at Chaparral. He set the career consecutive starts record at Michigan. It also didn’t matter who you were in the high school hierarchy, Craig was going to treat you the same and be a friend to you.
On the field, he was an early standard that Chaparral coaches could point to. The Firebirds went to the state championship his senior year, and then won three titles after he graduated.
“He was a big part of getting (the program) to where it needed to be,” Brad Goddes, current Chaparral assistant coach and Craig’s Anatomy teacher, said. “(He was) just the overall leader for community, school, his familty. This guy paved the road for everybody.”
Craig always wanted to pass the talent and knowledge he had for the game to younger players. He had worked on groups to connect up-and-coming players with Michigan Football alums. After his playing days, he created multiple online programs to provide tips and tricks to young defensive linemen.
“He was dissemenating all kinds of defensive line information and was pouring that back into the game that gave him so much,” Ragle said. “That’s who he was. He was always a giver. He was always trying to make the people around him better and because of that, a lot of people – including myself – are better off.”
For those who want to attend, the ceremony will start promptly at 6:40 PM before Chaparral’s matchup against Desert Mountain. If you would like to support the Roh family, a GoFundMe can be found here.
