Some Advice for Mike Brown

The Bengals should do what the Redskins are doing:

Washington PostRod Flowers has not played organized football since middle school and never considered a future in the NFL. But when the Washington Redskins' scouting department contacted him last week, the Tennessee State basketball star listened.

Flowers, who completed his senior season and is working toward a master's degree, has the size, weight and athletic ability NFL scouts covet, and although the Redskins do not plan to audition him, the mere fact he was considered is an indication of how far NFL teams are going to unearth talent.

The rise of Pro Bowl tight end Antonio Gates in San Diego has prompted other clubs to pursue alternative sources for players. Gates was signed as an undrafted free agent in May 2003 and set the NFL record for touchdowns by a tight end in 2004.

Flowers, who attended a high school that restricted students from playing football and basketball, has a 6-9, 240-pound frame, and is a former Parade High School all-American basketball player. Tennessee State basketball coach Cy Alexander said he was contacted by a Redskins scout last week to gather information about Flowers and assess if he would be interested in playing tight end. Alexander called Flowers, who was intrigued by the possibility, and phoned the Redskins to tell them so.After holding internal discussions, Vinny Cerrato, Washington's vice president of football operations, said the team has decided not to bring Flowers to Redskins Park for a workout.

Alexander said that Flowers was willing to put an offer he has to play professional basketball in Spain on hold to come to Washington, and was surprised by the phone call.

"The scout said they were looking for the next Gates, who played basketball at Kent State," Alexander said. "He asked me about Rod's background and what kind of athlete he was and said they were interested because of his height and weight. Rod is a pretty special athlete, and I think he could make the transition to more of a contact sport, but he'd have to put on some weight."

Alexander said the scout informed him the Redskins found Flowers on a "wire," which listed numerous players by height and weight, and that Flowers was just one of many basketball players being contacted.