Colts CB Dallis Flowers adds high school jersey retirement to triumphant journey

OAK PARK, Ill. — Charles Flowers sat on a concrete post, leaned up against the fence behind him and let the memories flood to the forefront of his mind. A glance at his feet revealed why he was at Oak Park and River Forest High School on Friday, with a smile that never left his face.

Flowers sported a pair of black-and-blue Indianapolis Colts sneakers. He could only get them from one place and from one person: his son Dallis Flowers, a second-year cornerback for the Colts. His oldest child’s football jersey had just been retired by OPRF, marking just the second time in the school’s 150-year history a football player’s number was immortalized.

Charles Flowers and Lori Teague, Dallis’ mother, knew their son was special from the get-go.

“Seven months old, he walked,” Charles said. “I got up to use the washroom one night, and he’s outside the crib and laughing and patting on the bed. And I say, ‘I know Lori didn’t take him out the crib.’ She was dead asleep. So, I put him back in the crib and I laid down. I pretended I was asleep, but that little sucker grabbed the bars and flipped over onto the floor and started walking. I nudged Lori, she woke up in a fog and I said, ‘Lori, Dallis is walking!’”

What made the feat even more impressive was that Dallis had never crawled. Charles and Lori thought Dallis’ development was delayed, but a doctor told them not to worry. Their son would crawl when he was ready, or — in what has become a defining trait in Dallis Flowers’ journey — when he defied the odds.

The day after Dallis began walking, his parents took him to a block party. The neighbors let young Dallis pull a ticket for a raffle, and, fittingly, he pulled his own name.

“At that point, we knew he was a winner,” Charles said, laughing.

Several of those same people who were in awe of the kid who walked before he could crawl were in awe again all these years later, as the 26-year-old returned to his former high school nine days before his second NFL season begins.

Dallis Flowers was gifted a framed, white No. 21 jersey for the occasion. The 2015 OPRF alum was flanked by his father, mother and football coach John Hoerster as he accepted the jersey at midfield a few minutes before his alma mater faced Lake Park High School. Hoerster gave a speech to recognize Flowers’ “electric” career as a Husky and his improbable journey to the Colts.

“He stuck with it,” Teague said. “He was on the right track all of the time. There were no sidesteps, just steps. He was focused and prayerful, which got him to where he’s at right now.”

Flowers attended four colleges and never played football at the Division I level. Yet after going undrafted last year, this season he is poised to start as an outside cornerback for the Colts. He remains unsatisfied and, as he puts it, unproven. But for a few hours Friday, as he walked the sideline of the field he competed on for the last time in 2014, Flowers soaked it all in. Nine years ago, he wasn’t thinking of getting his jersey retired or reaching the NFL.

He was just hoping for a chance to keep playing.

“This is definitely a blessing, a surreal moment,” Flowers said, taking a long look at his retired jersey. “It just shows all of the hard work and dedication that I gave to this community, to this town, to this school. This is family. This is home.

“This is gonna be with me for life.”

Hoerster was confused and, for a split second, livid.

He knew he told Flowers, a three-year varsity starter, and Kamal Bey — another dynamic athlete and three-time wrestling state champ — they weren’t going to run their signature trick play on any kickoffs that week. But his two stars ran it anyway. He couldn’t believe his eyes when Bey received the kick and proceeded to throw the ball backward across the field to Flowers.

Then Flowers did “Dallis things,” as Hoerster called it, and his bewilderment quickly morphed into cheering as Flowers marched to the end zone.

“Making people miss and breaking tackles and outrunning people,” Hoerster said. “I was just watching a really special athlete do special things. … Another Dallis legend I remember is in basketball, where he came in off the bench in overtime and goes 5-for-5 on 3-pointers, scores 15 points and they win. Again, the moment was never too big for him.”

In some ways, Hoerster feels like time has stood still. When he looks at Flowers, he doesn’t always see the 6-foot-1, 200-pound NFL cornerback OPRF students were flocking to Friday for photos and autographs. He sees the skinny kid who loved basketball a little more than football, but loved competing above all.

That has been the biggest separator in Flowers’ career, according to Hoerster. His former player was never “too cool to compete.” Regardless of the surface — whether it was the gridiron in the fall, the hardwood in the winter or the track in the spring — he accepted every challenge and always thought the world of himself.

“It’s changed a good amount,” Flowers said, smiling and admitting that football has finally supplanted basketball as his No. 1 sport. “But I’m still hungry, though. I still got that chip on my shoulder — and I still think I had a chance.”

When Flowers reflects on his basketball career, he truly believes if the right opportunities presented themselves, he could’ve been playing for the Pacers instead of the Colts. He wanted to follow in the footsteps of Iman Shumpert, a 2008 OPRF alum and McDonald’s All-American who went on to win a championship with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016. Shumpert’s No. 32 jersey — the only ORPF basketball jersey ever retired — was immortalized in 2011, the same year Flowers entered high school.

As it turns out, Flowers would follow in the footsteps of Eric Kumerow, a 1983 OPRF grad whose No. 14 was retired in 2012. Kumerow went on to star at Ohio State and played three seasons for the Miami Dolphins.

Flowers’ basketball career ended after one season at NAIA Robert Morris University in Illinois, where he also played football. After transferring to Division II Tiffin University in Ohio and being met with an unexpected coaching change, Flowers transferred again to NAIA Grand View University in Iowa and decided to go all-in on football alongside his little brother, Brenden. Both were standout cornerbacks at Grand View. Dallis Flowers’ two-year stint propelled him to Division II Pittsburg State and eventually the doorstep of the NFL, where he signed with the Colts as an undrafted rookie in 2022.

“I always thought it would be basketball, but the first person to tell me it would be football is my little brother,” Dallis said. “He’s definitely important in my life. I talk to him every day. It was my freshman year in college when he told me, ‘You’re gonna go to the league in football, not basketball.’ In the back of my head I was like, ‘Yeah, OK. He might be right.’ And he was.”

Although Brenden couldn’t make it to his older brother’s jersey retirement, Dallis still had plenty of family members, childhood friends and former teammates at OPRF on Friday to support him. Perhaps none can relate to his unique path more than 2017 OPRF alum Jared Scott, who has shared a locker room with Dallis at the highest level.

Scott, a 6-foot-6, 240-pound tight end, was a member of the Colts’ practice squad last season, which served as a full-circle milestone for him and his former teammate. Before reaching the NFL, Scott attended Wyoming and played with Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen before going on to play at Prairie View A&M, Jacksonville State and Idaho State.

“It was definitely a special moment, something that we dreamed of as kids,” said Scott, who also played basketball with Flowers at OPRF. “Just trying to get to the league from the same hometown. He’s still inspiring me to this day. When I did end up in Indy, he kind of took me under his wing since he had already made the (53-man roster).”

Scott wasn’t surprised to see Flowers slowly carve out a bigger role with the Colts throughout the 2022 season, shining as kickoff returner before eventually starting in the season finale at cornerback. And Scott is willing to bet that despite all of the doubt regarding Indianapolis’ inexperienced defensive secondary, the lights won’t be too bright for Flowers.

When you’re a star, you shine anywhere, he said.

“You gotta believe in yourself more than anybody else does, and like he said (in an interview last year), he’s lived his life like an undrafted free agent because he had to overcome so many obstacles,” Scott said. “I happen to have a similar path having attended different schools as well, but oftentimes we have to see it in ourselves before anyone sees it in us.”

Colts safety Rodney Thomas II was the lone current Colts player to join Flowers for his jersey retirement. He believes Flowers is ready to capitalize on his opportunity, especially following a strong preseason.

“Everything that he’d done to get his jersey retired here, he’s gonna bring that to the field” with the Colts, Thomas said. “I’m excited to see him get his shot and make it happen.”

Leaving OPRF with a framed jersey to the applause of hundreds of fans in attendance added more fuel to Flowers’ fire. He’s proud of his past and the imprint he left while wearing No. 21 in high school. Now it’s time to write a new chapter while donning No. 33 at Lucas Oil Stadium and other venues around the NFL.

“You’re gonna see,” Flowers said. “It’s coming for sure.”

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