Former Chattanooga Mocs football standout Eldra Buckley re-signed with the NFL’s San Diego Chargers this week. Buckley, a two-time All-Southern Conference running back for UTC from 2005-06, just finished his second season with the Chargers in 2008.
Buckley signed with the San Diego as an undrafted free agent in 2007. A member of the practice squad in his first two years, the Charleston, Miss., native is currently listed on the Chargers’ active roster.
Despite only playing two years for Chattanooga, Buckley is No.
4 on the Mocs’ all-time rushing list. He totaled 2,437 yards in two seasons and holds the No. 1 and No. 2 marks on UTC’s single season rushing list. The 1,204 yards he amassed in his senior year is second only to the 1,233 yards he piled up in his junior campaign.
Buckley joins former Mocs Terrell Owens (1992-95) and Terdell Sands (1999) as UTC’s representatives in the NFL. Owens just finished his 13th NFL season, eclipsing the 1,000-yard receiving mark for the ninth time. He has spent the last three years with the Dallas Cowboys. Sands, a defensive lineman with the Oakland Raiders, just finished his ninth season in the league and his sixth year with Oakland.