Ereck Flowers (born April 25, 1994) is an
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
offensive guard
Offensive may refer to:
* Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative
* Offensive (military), an attack
* Offensive language
** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...
who is a free agent. He played
college football
College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States.
Unlike most ...
at the
University of Miami
The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...
and was drafted ninth overall by the
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
in the
2015 NFL Draft
The 2015 NFL Draft was the 80th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. It took place in Chicago at the Auditorium Theatre and in Grant Park, from April 30 to May 2. The previous ...
. He has also played for the
Jacksonville Jaguars,
Washington Redskins / Football Team
The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) E ...
, and
Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...
. Flowers played
offensive tackle
Offensive may refer to:
* Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative
* Offensive (military), an attack
* Offensive language
** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...
at the University of Miami and in the early part of his NFL career prior to switching to guard in 2019.
Early years
A native of
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
, Flowers originally attended
Krop High School in the
Ives Estates, where he was a basketball standout and did not focus on football until his junior year. For his senior year, he transferred to
Norland High School in
Miami Gardens, where he joined a talented varsity that featured
blue chip
Blue chip may refer to:
* Blue casino token
* Blue chip (stock market), a corporation with a national reputation for quality, reliability, and the ability to operate profitably
* Blue chip (sports), collegiate athletes who are targeted by professio ...
running back
Duke Johnson
Randy "Duke" Johnson Jr. (born September 23, 1993) is an American football running back for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the third round (77th overall) of the 2015 NFL Draft. ...
. Flowers helped the Vikings to a 15–0 season record and a
FHSAA Class 5A championship over
Crawfordville Wakulla.
Regarded as a four-star recruit by
Rivals.com
Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel.
History
Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...
, Flowers was ranked as the 20th-best offensive tackle in his class. ''
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
'' labelled him a three-star recruit and ranked him 57th in his position. He chose Miami (FL) over offers from
Purdue
Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...
,
Florida State
Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...
, and
Central Florida
Central Florida is a region of the U.S. state of Florida. Different sources give different definitions for the region, but as its name implies it is usually said to comprise the central part of the state, including the Tampa Bay area and the Gr ...
.
College career
As a true freshman at the
University of Miami
The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...
in 2012, Flowers played in all 12 games at right tackle, making four starts. As a sophomore in 2013, he started all 12 games at left tackle. He returned as the starting left tackle in 2014. On December 29, 2014, Flowers announced that he would forgo his senior season and enter the
2015 NFL Draft
The 2015 NFL Draft was the 80th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. It took place in Chicago at the Auditorium Theatre and in Grant Park, from April 30 to May 2. The previous ...
.
Professional career
New York Giants
On April 30, 2015, Flowers was selected with the ninth overall pick by the
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
in the
2015 NFL Draft
The 2015 NFL Draft was the 80th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. It took place in Chicago at the Auditorium Theatre and in Grant Park, from April 30 to May 2. The previous ...
. He was the highest selected Miami Hurricanes offensive lineman since
Bryant McKinnie
Bryant Douglas McKinnie (born September 23, 1979) is a former American football offensive tackle. He played college football at the University of Miami, where he was twice recognized as an All-American.
He was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings ...
in 2002. On June 18, 2015, Flowers signed a 4-year $14.3 million contract with the Giants. He was named the Giants starting left tackle for Week 1 and played in 15 games in his rookie season.
Although he wore number 76 jersey throughout his entire rookie season, Flowers decided to switch to his college number 74 during the spring of 2016 after it was left available with the departure of teammate
Geoff Schwartz
Geoffrey Isaiah Schwartz (born July 11, 1986) is a former American football offensive guard in the National Football League, NFL and author. He was drafted by the Carolina Panthers in the seventh round of the 2008 NFL Draft, and played for them ...
.
Flowers has been criticized for not living up to expectations through his 3rd year in the league. Since he gave up 169 total pressures which is the most of any tackle in the NFL during that time. Those stats and his numerous penalties have caused
Pro Football Focus to rate him as the 54th best tackle in the NFL. In 2018, former offensive line teammate and NFL analyst Geoff Schwartz accused Flowers of "quitting" on the team, of missing multiple blocks, and of having poor technique.
On May 2, 2018, the Giants declined the fifth-year option on Flower's contract, making him a free agent in 2019. He was moved over to right tackle after the Giants signed veteran
Nate Solder to be their left tackle. On September 23, 2018, the Giants decided to bench Flowers in favor of
Chad Wheeler
Chad Wheeler (born January 19, 1994) is a former American football offensive tackle. He played college football for the USC Trojans football team from 2012 to 2016. At the end of the 2016 season, he was selected as a first-team All-Pac-12 playe ...
at right tackle after his continued struggles. On October 8, 2018, the Giants announced plans to release Flowers if a trade with a team couldn't be worked out. The next day, Flowers was officially released by the Giants.
Jacksonville Jaguars
On October 12, 2018, the
Jacksonville Jaguars signed Flowers to a one-year contract after
Josh Wells
Joshua Ryan Wells (born February 14, 1991) is an American football offensive tackle for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Jacksonville Jaguars after the 2014 NFL Draft. ...
was placed on injured reserve. He was named the starting left tackle in Week 11 and started there the rest of the season.
Washington Redskins
On March 18, 2019, Flowers signed a one-year, $4 million contract with the
Washington Redskins
The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...
. He transitioned to
offensive guard
Offensive may refer to:
* Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative
* Offensive (military), an attack
* Offensive language
** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...
during the team's
training camp, where he started all season at left guard.
Miami Dolphins
On March 20, 2020, Flowers signed a three-year, $30 million contract with the
Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...
. He was placed on the
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
reserve list by the team on August 2, 2020, before being activated on August 15.
Washington Football Team
On April 28, 2021, Flowers was traded to the
Washington Football Team in exchange for a swap of 2021 seventh round picks from both teams. On December 31, 2021, he was placed on the team's COVID-19 reserve list and was forced to sit out of the Week 17 game against the
Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...
. Flowers was placed back on active roster on January 5, 2022. Flowers was released on March 16, 2022.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flowers, Ereck
1994 births
Living people
Players of American football from Miami
Miami Norland Senior High School alumni
American football offensive tackles
American football offensive guards
Miami Dolphins players
Miami Hurricanes football players
New York Giants players
Jacksonville Jaguars players
Washington Football Team players
Washington Redskins players