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Posted Jun 10, 2020
Detroit Lions defensive end Trey Flowers knocks the football away from New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones during an NFL game on Oct. 27, 2019, at Ford Field in Detroit.Leon Halip/Getty Images
During a normal offseason, defensive
end Trey Flowers might be at the Detroit Lions’ minicamp around this
time of year. But because of the coronavirus pandemic, NFL teams have conducted
their offseason programs online.
That has kept Flowers at home, and he toured his alma
mater, Columbia High School in Huntsville, for the Lions’ official website.
“To see the joy on people’s
faces that they’re still looking up to you and to see that they cherish those
memories as well,” Flowers
said about visiting his
old school, “it makes me feel good just to kind of be a part of and be somebody
they look up to, and they understand I was in their shoes not too long ago. He
had a dream, he chased it, he worked hard at it and he stayed focused, so it
just reminds me of the grind, reminds me to continue to push toward being the
best me I can be.”
Flowers earned All-State recognition at Columbia
in 2009 and 2010. He and Josh Machlin are the only players in the Eagles’
history to earn first-team All-State football honors.
Flowers also played on back-to-back area championship
teams in basketball, and the 2010 team went to the AHSAA Class 4A Final Four.
After playing at
Arkansas, Flowers entered the NFL as a fourth-round selection of the New
England Patriots in the 2015 draft. He played in only one game during his
rookie season. Injuries reduced his chances to contribute, and Flowers finally
went on the injured reserve list on Dec. 1, 2015, with shoulder and knee
ailments.
For the next three seasons, Flowers led the Patriots in
sacks and played in the Super Bowl, winning two NFL championships.
Last year, Flowers
joined the Lions in free agency for a five-year, $90 million contract that included $40 million guaranteed at signing.
In his first season with
Detroit, Flowers made 51 tackles, recorded seven sacks, registered 21
quarterback hits and forced two fumbles while playing 705 defensive snaps in 15
games.
