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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Extended Family
11/11/2002 | Football
Nov. 11, 2002
By Katy Lonergan
Assistant Sports Information Director
In this day and age, family is one of the most important things in a person's life. With a good support system in place, success is much easier to achieve.
A great example of family being integral to one's success, would be senior tight end Doug Zeigler. While Zeigler is very fortunate to have a great family life in the normal sense of the word, he is also lucky to have several other families by his side.
Zeigler grew up in the small Ohio town of Wilmington, located between Cincinnati and Columbus. Although he made it out of Ohio down to Mississippi for college living a mostly charmed life, times were not always good for the Zeiglers.
"My parents got divorced when I was younger," said Zeigler, a Marketing major. "As a family, we went through some tough times then."
Although times got tough, they eventually improved, thanks in large part to Zeigler himself. With both parents remarried, times could be strange or uncomfortable, but the whole family rallied and worked hard to provide a strong family environment to further his success.
"I feel like I had a big part in my family all being able to get along," said Zeigler. "When I was being recruited for college, I would have all four of my parents come on different trips with me.
"We all had to work together to decide what was the best thing for me. It was a great bonding experience for my family."
The support from his immediate family did not trail off when Zeigler left Ohio for Ole Miss. His family can be found at most all of the Rebel games. His father, Craig attended five games during his freshman year, in which he redshirted. Since that time, the elder Zeigler has missed just one game.
"Following Doug's career has been a special thing for our family," said Craig Zeigler. "The hospitality we have received in Oxford is wonderful. Everyone has really made us feel at home."
Zeigler has a second family from Ohio - the town of Wilmington itself. Considered by some, to be the "favorite son" of the town of 12,000, it is a role Zeigler relishes.
"My hometown has been behind me ever since I started playing sports," said Zeigler. "The people there did not lose track of me when I left to go to Ole Miss. There are just a lot of Ole Miss fans up in Ohio now."
On visits back to Wilmington, Zeigler does not disappoint his fans. He makes trips to the local elementary schools to speak to the kids, especially his sister Kim's second grade class. He also had nearly 85 Wilmington residents attend Ole Miss' game at Kentucky last season, just to watch him play.
"The support I have received from my hometown is very special," said Zeigler. "Since I went so far away from home, I did not expect much, but they have really made me feel good about what I am doing."
Zeigler arrived on the Ole Miss campus with intentions of being a quarterback, but plans soon changed. During his true freshman season, he switched positions and began his days as a tight end. Since that time he has become a part of another family.
The tight end tradition at Ole Miss is second to none, and Zeigler quickly added his name to that family, joining former Rebel greats such as Barney Poole, Wesley Walls and Rufus French.
As a redshirt freshman, Zeigler played in 11 games, earning starts against Arkansas and Mississippi State. As a sophomore his playing time increased. He played in 11 of the 12 games that season and caught 15 passes for 173 yards and one touchdown.
Zeigler had an outstanding junior season for the Rebels. He played in nine games, missing the Mississippi State and Vanderbilt games with a broken arm. Despite missing the last two games of the season, Zeigler still managed to make 21 catches for 281 yards and four touchdowns.
Zeigler got off to a great start in 2002, recording eight catches for 75 yards in the first three games. Unfortunately for Zeigler and the whole Rebel family, he suffered a broken leg in the first quarter of the Vanderbilt game and will be lost for the remainder of the season.
Zeigler will have the support of not only his immediate family and his Wilmington, Ohio, family as he works toward a complete recovery, but also the support of his Ole Miss teammates.
"Doug has been a great teammate and friend throughout our careers," said fellow senior and center Ben Claxton. "It is devasting for our team to lose a person the caliber of Doug, but we are all going to support him and help him get through this injury."
While Ole Miss officials are in the process of examining the possibility of petitioning the NCAA for a sixth year of eligibility for Zeigler, there are no guarantees. With the possibility of his career being cut short due to injury, tough times have again set in for Zeigler. This time his entire family is going to pull him through.
