Canes Following Flowers On & Off the Field
By David Villavicencio
HurricaneSports.com
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The Miami Hurricanes have a long tradition of homegrown talent showcasing itself on the football field.
Canes legends like Michael Irvin, Sean Taylor, Jonathan Vilma, Santana Moss and Bennie Blades are just a handful of South Florida natives who shined while donning Miami’s orange and green.
Each week in the 2014 season, HurricaneSports.com will honor a Hurricane football player with South Florida ties as the Milam’s Market Homegrown Athlete of the Week. This week’s player spotlight is on Miami native Ereck Flowers.
Saturday night’s matchup between Miami and Nebraska will feature two schools with a long history of standout offensive line play.
Nebraska’s line was lauded as one of the best in the country dating back to the Tom Osborne-era, while the Hurricanes have produced numerous outstanding offensive linemen over the years.
Two-time All-American Joaquin Gonzalez and 2001 Outland Trophy winner Bryant McKinnie, as well as Rimington Trophy winner Brett Romberg and All-American Eric Winston are just some of the recent standout blockers at Miami.
Denver Broncos RT Orlando Franklin, Houston Texans center Chris Myers, Jacksonville Jaguars guard Brandon Linder and Buffalo Bills RT Seantrel Henderson are other linemen who shined at Miami and went on to play in the NFL.
Look into the history books and you will see Pro Football Hall of Fame center Jim Otto was a star at Miami in the 1950s. Dennis Harrah, who was a six-time Pro Bowler and seven-time All-Pro, was an All-American guard at Miami in 1974.
You will also find longtime NFL star and 1991 National Champion Leon Searcy and All-Americans K.C. Jones and Richard Mercier among the standout linemen who donned Miami’s orange and green proudly.
The 2014 offensive line is not short on gifted blockers, but left tackle Ereck Flowers is the regarded as the best of the bunch.
Flowers stands at a gigantic 6-foot-6 and weighs 324 pounds, but his immense size is only trumped by his impressive athleticism.
Watch the junior block and you will see a combination of strength, agility and technique that few can match. In addition to his physical gifts, Flowers possesses work ethic and maturity essential for a veteran leader.
Flowers has always possessed the physical and mental gifts, as well as the intangibles, that made him a model player on and off the field.
He was a star left tackle at Miami Norland High School, helping pave the way for Duke Johnson and the rest of the Vikings offense as they went undefeated and won the Class 5A state championship in 2011.
Flowers was a highly-rated recruit out of Norland and held scholarship offense from in-state rival Florida State, as well as West Virginia, Illinois, Purdue and a host of other talented programs.
But Flowers knew all along he wanted to be a Miami Hurricane.
After outstanding high school careers, Flowers and Johnson continued their stellar play together for their hometown Canes.
Much like at Norland, Flowers helped lead the way for Johnson from Day 1 at Miami. The talented tackle played in all 12 games as a freshman, making four starts during the 2012 season. Flowers played a key role in blocking for a Miami attack that ranked third in the ACC in passing offense and fifth in total offense.
Flowers’ sophomore season was been even better than his debut in Coral Gables. After playing right tackle as a freshman, Flowers shifted to left tackle where he started all 13 games, anchoring Miami’s immense offensive line and helping the Canes open 7-0 for the first time since 2003. Flowers and his fellow linemen helped pave the way for a Hurricanes offense that averaged 425.8 yards of total offense and 33.8 points per game.
The 2014 campaign is an important one for Flowers and the Hurricanes. Projected by some as a potential NFL first round pick, all eyes will be on Flowers’ play this year. The talented junior is off to a strong start, helping Miami rush for 198 rushing yards against Florida A&M and 146 yards against Arkansas State. Miami’s offense has also been prolific recently, scoring 41 points in each of the last two games.
Flowers will look to continuing his stellar play against the Cornhuskers this weekend as he leads the Canes into Lincoln, Neb., for a key matchup.
