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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Nichols, Buckles, Flowers Sign With NFL Teams As Free Agents
4/28/2005 | Football
April 28, 2005
OXFORD, Miss. - Three players from last year's Ole Miss football team, kicker Jonathan Nichols of Greenwood, Miss., offensive guard Doug Buckles of Madison, Miss., and wide receiver Bill Flowers of Pelham, Ala., have signed free agent contracts with National Football League teams.
Nichols signed with the Minnesota Vikings, Buckles with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Flowers with the Cleveland Browns.
Three other Rebels on the 2004 squad were selected in the recent NFL Draft. Center Chris Spencer was taken in the first round as the 26th overall pick by the Seattle Seahawks, offensive lineman Marcus Johnson was picked in the second round by Minnesota and fullback Rick Razzano was selected by Tampa Bay in the seventh.
Nichols, the all-time leading scorer in Ole Miss history with 344 career points, set 15 school records during his All-American career. He won the 2003 Lou Groza Award for the nation's top place kicker after making 25-of-29 field goals that season and setting an Ole Miss season scoring record of 124 points, bettering the previous mark of 102 by running back Deuce McAllister in 2000.
One of the best kickers in the Southeastern Conference throughout his four-year career, Nichols earned Freshman All-SEC honors from the league coaches in 2001, first-team All-SEC by the coaches and the Associated Press in 2003 and second-team honors by the coaches and the AP in 2004. For his career, Nichols made 63-of-82 field goals (76.8 percent) and converted 155-of-157 PATs (98.7 percent), ending his career owning the nation's longest active streak of 117 consecutive PATs made.
 Offensive guard Doug Buckles signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  | |
Buckles was a four-year starter for the Rebels at left guard. His career began on a strong note as he was named a first-team Freshman All-American by the Sporting News after the 2001 season. He went on to make 46 career starts, including 38 straight to close out his stint as a Rebel. Buckles earned honorable mention All-SEC accolades from the AP in 2003 and was a second-team All-SEC pick by the league coaches in 2004.
 Wide receiver Bill Flowers signed with the Cleveland Browns. | |
Flowers was a four-year letterman and two-year starter for the Rebels. He finished his career second on the Ole Miss career list for receptions with 149, and ranked sixth in career receiving yards with 1,795. He led the South squad with four catches for 41 yards at the Villages Gridiron Classic postseason all-star game.
