He set his personal record for the event in 2014, throwing 21.50 m (70 ft 6+1⁄4 in) to take second at the USA Indoor Track and Field Championships.
Born in Lancaster, Ohio,[1] he attended Athens High School and began to compete in the shot put around the age of sixteen.
In his first year, he was runner-up indoors and out in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) and managed third place at the NCAA Men's Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships with a throw of 17.81 m (58 ft 5 in).
[2] He threw over twenty metres for the first time at the beginning of 2011 and his mark of 20.30 m (66 ft 7 in) ranked him in the top ten nationally that year.
[6] At those trials a photograph of him competing, taken mid-throw by Matt Slocum for the Associated Press, gained widespread coverage due to his unusually distorted face and gruff features.
[2] Roberts improved his personal record in February at the 2014 USA Indoor Championships – he took the lead with a large throw of 21.50 m (70 ft 6+1⁄4 in), but was then beaten into second place by Whiting, who set a lifetime best himself.