Kerr placed in the top three of the Brownlow Medal in three consecutive seasons from 2005 to 2007, notably finishing runner-up to teammate Ben Cousins in 2005 by a single vote.

Roger played professional football in the 1980s, appearing for East Fremantle in the WAFL and briefly also for Port Adelaide in the SANFL.

[2] Kerr and his sister are also more distantly related to two other famous West Australian footballers, Con Regan and Shaun McManus.

[10] Kerr was considered one of the leading members of the West Coast Eagles midfield that led the team to back-to-back grand finals in 2005 and 2006, together with Ben Cousins and Chris Judd.

[13] In 2006, he came third in the Brownlow Medal count with 22 votes; however, he was ineligible due to a striking charge against Hawthorn's Sam Mitchell in Round 14.

[14] He was also a part of the Eagles' 2006 premiership side and still managed to receive 20 disposals during the game,[15] despite playing with detached ligaments in his foot.

[11] Following the departure of Cousins and Judd at the end of 2007, and the twilight of other veterans like Michael Braun and Chad Fletcher, Kerr was widely acknowledged as the leader of West Coast's midfield.

In September 2002, Kerr was involved in a brawl with teammate Ben Cousins at a Perth nightclub during the club's end of season celebrations.

Police prosecutor Gary Flynn told the court Kerr saw the taxi and jumped screaming and shouting onto the boot.

Kerr's lawyer John Prior said his client had gone out to dinner, "consumed too much alcohol" and "made a crucial bad judgement call".

Assessor William Millar awarded Luies compensation for the assault by Kerr, as payment for his hospital bills, lost pay and for trauma suffered.

[33] In mid-2005, Kerr and teammate Michael Gardiner were observed behaving erratically in a nightclub by members of an opposition team following a match.

His conversations with convicted drug dealer Shane Waters relating to a "big bag of horse chaff" were recorded by police phone taps in 2003.

[34] The West Coast Eagles forced Kerr to start seeing a clinical psychologist at the beginning of 2008, in an attempt to combat his anger management issues and alcoholism.

[34] In November 2014, Kerr was arrested and charged with endangering the lives of two people after he allegedly started a small fire at a house in Glendalough.

The charges related to his former partner, with prosecutors alleging that he had "wielded physical, emotional and verbal abuse over the woman", including choking and punching her, as well as "destroyed her property and gained control of her finances and social media accounts".

The presiding judge handed down a suspended jail sentence of four years and six months, with strict supervision requirements, on the basis that he continue to receive treatment for his mental health issues.