SUPER BOWL LI ATLANTA FALCONS VS. NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS

Ex-Hog empties nest

Flowers key to Patriots’ run

Trey Flowers (right) of the New England Patriots has been disruptive this season at both defensive end and as an undersized interior lineman. The former Arkansas Razorback led the Patriots with seven sacks during the regular season and will play in his first Super Bowl on Sunday.
Trey Flowers (right) of the New England Patriots has been disruptive this season at both defensive end and as an undersized interior lineman. The former Arkansas Razorback led the Patriots with seven sacks during the regular season and will play in his first Super Bowl on Sunday.

FAYETTEVILLE -- Trey Flowers watched the Super Bowl at the same place every year while growing up: his family's home in Huntsville, Ala.

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AP file photo

An all-SEC selection as a senior, Trey Flowers last played at Houston’s NRG Stadium, site of Sunday’s Super Bowl, during the 2014 Texas Bowl, his final game at Arkansas.

"We threw a party every Super Bowl," Flowers said. "We were a sports family and we loved football, so every time the Super Bowl came on, we'd have a good meal and a lot of people come over.

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Super Hogs

The Arkansas Razorbacks have had at least one player in seven of the past eight Super Bowls.

2010: Tony Ugoh, OL, Colts

2011: Brett Goode, LS, Packers

2012: Mitch Petrus, OL, Giants

2013: Bobbie Williams, OL, Ravens

2014: Alvin Bailey, OL, Seahawks

2015: Alvin Bailey, OL, Seahawks

2017: Trey Flowers, DL, Patriots

"Everybody came to my house."

The house will be empty this go around.

Flowers, an Arkansas Razorbacks standout from 2011-2014, is an integral part of AFC champion New England's defense and will be in Houston as the Patriots face the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl 51 on Sunday.

About a dozen members of the Flowers family are making the trek to Houston. It's a familiar trip.

The last time Flowers took the field in Houston's NRG Stadium was his final game in a Razorback uniform. The family was in attendance for that game, too, as Arkansas toppled Texas 31-7 in the Texas Bowl in December 2014.

Flowers was a force as a senior for the Hogs, earning all-SEC honors and finishing with six sacks and 15.5 tackles for a loss, enough to move him into second place in career tackles behind the line of scrimmage (47.5) at Arkansas.

"Probably a guy that I bring up a lot to our players, even before he and Martrell [Spaight] came in and spoke before the Florida game [this year]," Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema said. "... To see guys that you coached or developed or had a part of their life be at the highest pinnacle of football, it's overwhelming."

Flowers has emerged as a key presence for the Patriots after becoming one of the roster's best defensive players since late October. He led the team with seven sacks in the regular season, all of which occurred since Week 8, which coincided with him earning a bigger role.

His teammates bestowed him with the nickname "Technique" as a result of his attention to detail and fundamentals.

The 6-2, 265-pounder lines up everywhere on the Patriots' defensive front. Sometimes he'll work at defensive end, the position he played at Arkansas. He also can shift inside and operate as an undersized interior linemen.

"I honestly haven't seen too many players with the size he is who can defend the run and the pass on the inside like him," Patriots defensive lineman Alan Branch said to CSN New England. "He's the only one I've ever met like that."

"He's able to play like he's 300 pounds, but he's not 300 pounds," said Chris Long, another Patriots defensive lineman, to CSNNE. "It gives him versatility, and he has a really good feel for where people are leaning. He's a really smart player. He's one of the smartest players on our defense and one of the best players, if not the best player, on our defense."

Flowers has been disruptive in both spots, recording multiple sacks three times in the regular season. That versatility has allowed him to take on an expanded role within the system.

"This defense is predicated on a lot of moving parts, so you have to learn a lot of different positions," said Flowers, who has 10 tackles in two postseason games this season. "I'm probably going to get caught in a lot of situations, so to know a lot of different positions is key."

Flowers' midseason surge put him on the radar after he'd become a bit of a forgotten man when he missed most of his rookie season with a shoulder injury. A fourth-round draft pick, he wasn't a can't-miss prospect coming out of Arkansas. But one New England teammate knew what to expect.

Jake Bequette was a senior defensive end at Arkansas when Flowers was a freshman in 2011. Bequette, now in law school at Georgetown, was entering his fourth season with the Patriots when Flowers showed up for his first training camp as a rookie in 2015.

Not much had changed from their time together in Fayetteville.

"That freshman year at Arkansas, I'm not sure if he said more than 10 words the entire season," Bequette said. "His personality has not changed at all. He's very quiet, very humble. But he works hard, and he carries himself like a professional."

Bequette was an all-SEC performer as Arkansas went 11-2 during his senior year. Flowers, a three-star recruit, was forced into action that season out of necessity against his home-state Alabama Crimson Tide because of injuries to Bequette and Tenarius Wright.

Flowers performed admirably in front of family members in Bryant-Denny Stadium, and he wound up starting three games as a true freshman.

"We all saw his potential," Bequette said. "It was obvious to us that he had a very high ceiling, even as a true freshman. He absorbed all the information, and he put it into practice out there on the field. And for a guy one year out of high school, that's pretty incredible."

It hasn't taken him long to make the transition from college to the NFL, either. Bequette had switched to tight end by the time Flowers made it to Foxborough, Mass.

"We went up against each other a couple times," Bequette said.

Bequette sent his former teammate a congratulatory text after the Patriots' victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Championship Game. He'll be watching the big game on a TV somewhere in Washington, D.C.

Flowers' family members traded in their annual Super Bowl party for a seat at the real deal this year.

"I'm gonna have a lot of people down there supporting me," Flowers said.

At a glance

LINE New England by 3

LAST MEETING New England won 30-23 in 2013

SERIES New England leads 7-6.

Sports on 02/04/2017

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