Robert Terrence Flagler (born September 24, 1964) is a former professional American football running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the San Francisco 49ers and Phoenix Cardinals. 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 Clemson University.

Early years

Flagler attended

Fernandina Beach High School Fernandina Beach High School is a public high school located in Fernandina Beach, Florida. It is part of the Nassau County School District and serves grades 9 through 12. Chris Webber is the school's principal. For athletics, the school's colors ...

, where as a senior he posted 1,683 rushing yards on 200 carries and 20 touchdowns, including one of the greatest games in Northeast Florida high school history, when against West Nassau (October 23, 1981) he had 405 rushing yards and 7 touchdowns. He also practiced basketball and led the district in scoring as a senior.

College career

He accepted a scholarship from Clemson University and became a full-time starter until his senior season. He helped the team win an ACC championship, while finishing with 1,258 rushing yards (13th in nation), 10 touchdowns, six 100-yard rushing games (including 2 games with over 200 rushing yards), 274 all purpose yards in one game (school record), 106.9 rushing yards per game in one season (school record). He was a runner-up in the ACC Player of the Year voting. In 2013, he was inducted into the Clemson Athletic Hall of Fame.

Professional career

San Francisco 49ers (first stint)

Flagler was selected by the San Francisco 49ers in the first round (25th overall) of the

1987 NFL Draft The 1987 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 28–29, 1987, at the Marriot Marq ...

. In three years he only had 42 carries for 145 yards and one touchdown, while playing behind Roger Craig. After asking for a trade, he was sent along with

Daniel Stubbs Daniel Stubbs, II (born January 3, 1965) is a former American football defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) for the San Francisco 49ers, Dallas Cowboys, Cincinnati Bengals, Philadelphia Eagles, and Miami Dolphins. He played colleg ...

, a third (#81-

Craig Veasey Craig Veasey (born December 25, 1966 in Houston, Texas) is a retired defensive tackle/nose tackle in the NFL. While attending the University of Houston from 1985 to 1989, Craig earned was a 4-year letterman, and a starting 3 of those years. I ...

) and an eleventh-round (#304-Myron Jones) draft pick to the Dallas Cowboys, in exchange for a second (#47- Dennis Brown) and third-round (#68-Ron Lewis) draft choices on April 19,

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

Dallas Cowboys

A week after Flagler was acquired by the Dallas Cowboys to improve the running game, the team selected future

hall of fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

running back

Emmitt Smith Emmitt James Smith III (born May 15, 1969) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons, primarily with the Dallas Cowboys. Among other accolades, he is the lea ...

in the

1990 NFL draft The 1990 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 22–23, 1990, at the Marriott Marq ...

. He was waived on September 2,

Phoenix Cardinals

On September 26,

, he was signed as a free agent by the Phoenix Cardinals for depth purposes, after Ron Wolfley was lost for the year. On August 12,

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

, he was traded to the San Francisco 49ers in exchange for a conditional draft choice (not exercised).

San Francisco 49ers (second stint)

Flagler was cut on August 26,

, when the San Francisco 49ers chose to keep veteran Spencer Tillman.

Phoenix Cardinals

On September 12,

, he was re-signed after starter

Larry Centers Larry Eugene Centers (born June 1, 1968) is a former American football fullback in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons, mostly for his first-team, the Phoenix/Arizona Cardinals (1990–1998). Centers then played for the Washington ...

was lost for the year with a broken foot. He was released on October 29.

Los Angeles Raiders

On July 19,

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

, he was signed by the Los Angeles Raiders as a free agent. He was waived on August 24.

Jacksonville Tomcats (AF2)

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

, he signed with the Jacksonville Tomcats of the

Arena Football League 2 The AF2 (often styled as af2, and short for arenafootball2) was the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like its parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football r ...

. He was switched to wide receiver and played until the team folded in

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

References

\ {{DEFAULTSORT:Flagler, Terrence 1964 births Living people People from Fernandina Beach, Florida Players of American football from New York City Players of American football from Florida All-American college football players American football running backs Clemson Tigers football players Phoenix Cardinals players San Francisco 49ers players Jacksonville Tomcats players