Jackie Flowers (born March 4, 1958) is a former professional

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

wide receiver in the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

(USFL) for the

Arizona Wranglers The Arizona Wranglers were a professional American Football team in the United States Football League that, name-wise, existed from late 1982 to mid-1985. They played at Sun Devil Stadium on the campus of Arizona State University in Tempe, a su ...

, Chicago Blitz,

Pittsburgh Maulers Pittsburgh Maulers may refer to: * Pittsburgh Maulers (1984), United States Football League team * Pittsburgh Maulers (2022) The Pittsburgh Maulers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Maulers compet ...

and the Orlando Renegades. He also played in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) for the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

. 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 ...

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...

Early years

Flowers was a standout wide receiver at William M. Raines High School, graduating in 1976. He accepted a football scholarship from

where he was a four-year letterman. In 1978, he made 43 catches for 757 yards (led the team) and 7

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

s, earning honorable-mention All-American honors. In his senior year, he caught 37 passes for 622 yards (led the team), 7

s, a 2-point conversion reception and was named second-team All-American. Against Memphis State University, he had 9 receptions for 117 yards and one

. He finished his college career as the school's fifth-leading receiver with 102 receptions for 1,730 yards (17-yards per catch) and 15

College statistics

* Includes bowl games.

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Flowers was selected by the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

in the ninth round (246th overall) of the

1980 NFL Draft The 1980 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 29–30, 1980, at the New York She ...

, after dropping because he lacked speed and was seen as a possession receiver. On August 25, he was waived in pre-season after the Cowboys decided to keep only 3 wide receivers on the roster.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

In December

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

, he was signed as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

by the

. In

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

, he was placed on the

injured reserve list The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

with a knee injury, before being released the next year.

Arizona Wranglers (USFL)

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

, Flowers jumped to the

of the

after being out of football for a year, registering 63 receptions for 869 yards and 11 touchdowns, including the longest reception (98 yards) in league history. At the end of the season, Wranglers owner Jim Joseph did an unprecedented swap of franchises with Chicago Blitz owner Ted Diethrich. Diethrich sold the Blitz to James Hoffman, then bought the Wranglers from Joseph. Hoffman and Diethrich then engineered a swap of assets in which Allen, the Blitz coaching staff and most of its players moved to Phoenix while most of the Wranglers roster moved to Chicago.

Chicago Blitz (USFL)

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

, he played for the Chicago Blitz with head coach

Marv Levy Marvin Daniel Levy (; born August 3, 1925) is an American former football coach and executive who was a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for seventeen seasons. He spent most of his head coaching career with the Buffalo Bills, lea ...

. On March 19, he was traded to the

in exchange for a draft choice.Cook, Ron
"After weeding out receivers, Maulers cultivating Flowers"
Pittsburgh Press, March 27, 1984

Pittsburgh Maulers (USFL)

, Flowers was one of the league's best wide receivers with the

, leading the team with 46 catches for 881 yards and 8 touchdowns. The next year owner

Edward J. DeBartolo, Sr. Edward John DeBartolo Sr. (May 17, 1909 – December 19, 1994) was an American businessman. In 1971, his Ohio-based corporation was ranked as 47th among the nation's top 400 construction contractors. In 1983, DeBartolo was included on ''For ...

folded the team, after the USFL announced that they would be switching to a fall schedule in

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

Orlando Renegades (USFL)

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

, he signed with the Orlando Renegades for what would become the final season of USFL operations, registering 30 catches for 373 yards and 5 touchdowns.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flowers, Jackie 1958 births Living people William M. Raines High School alumni Players of American football from Jacksonville, Florida American football wide receivers Florida State Seminoles football players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Arizona Wranglers players Chicago Blitz players Pittsburgh Maulers players Washington Federals/Orlando Renegades players