Football coaches, teachers, teammates, and friends remember Brady Flowers II as a charismatic and fearless leader on and off the field, who brought energy and positivity to everyone around him.
Flowers, who was shot near Jackson-Reed on May 7 and died the following day, played multiple positions on the varsity football team for four years, including running back and safety. He was a team captain this past season.
“He played every game with relentless effort,” football assistant coach and English teacher Miles Lipscomb said. “He really knew how to take people to the next level, and he was always happy, always skipping coming out for football practice, you know, yelling and screaming. He was just a supportive young man who wanted to see everybody grow, not just himself.”
“A lot of the relationships I have as an English teacher are through Brady,” Lipscomb added, “because he used to bring kids into my class, bring them out for football, and he was just that kind of guy.”
Senior teammate Keith Parham Jr. said Flowers “always had jokes or something to laugh with you or at you about.” Other teammates described his contagious smile and energy. “There’s nobody with more optimism and encouraging energy to lift people up,” said junior Theo Segal. Freshman Cy Amos called Flowers “definitely the hardest worker out on the team.”
Off the field, Flowers, 18, had a passion for cooking. His mother, Shantae Flowers, said he worked at his family’s local catering business when he was younger. During high school, he worked at Gordon Ramsay’s Fish & Chips on the Wharf. Following in the footsteps of his grandfather, Brady planned to join the military or law enforcement to help his community.
Film studies teacher Kennedy Gayle recalled that Flowers was the first student she met in class at Jackson-Reed. Flowers “was just such a joy to have in class,” she said. “He was charismatic and a really good kid.”
Football teammates described Flowers as an important mentor figure, teaching other players not only how to block, tackle, and score, but what it looked like to be a leader. Flowers was “always working and always making people happy, rarely down, rarely sad,” freshman Zari Gedeon said.
Others recounted Flowers’ influence and importance to the team on the field. Segal described one impactful moment during this year’s senior night football game when Flowers returned an interception 97 yards for a touchdown, bringing the Tigers close to victory.
“Goes back and gives Coach Strickland a big hug,” Segal said. “[That] moment meant so much to the team.”
“As people know, we had a losing season, and nobody was quite happy with the results,” Segal added, “but going into the last game, senior night, there’s nobody with more optimism and encouraging energy to lift people up. We played a hell of a game.”
Flowers embodied commitment to the team, players said. Sophomore Michael Walker recounted a moment during practice in which he struggled to run a play. In response, Flowers told him to “get my head in the game and just go for it.” After taking the advice and successfully finishing the play, Flowers “was just ecstatic,” Walker recalled.
Walker said Flowers always persevered in the face of criticism. “He would always come back the next day with a smile on his face, ready to go 110 percent,” Walker said. “He would continue on with the game no matter what, and yeah, he really just left everything on that football field.”
“He led through examples,” junior varsity football coach Frankie Lobos said. “He wasn’t a person who spoke a lot, and he let his plays do the talking. Everyone knew he just needed one moment to change the course of a game or practice.”
“He was always trying to make everyone feel a little less sad or anxious about football, because we had a lot of new players,” Lobos said. “He was a very unique leader. The players felt very numb to his loss. They don’t know how to process it.”
In the wake of this tragedy, the football team has united as a community. Head coach Jason Strickland said he continued to keep workouts available for players to relieve stress, mourn, and articulate their emotions about Flowers’ death. “Seeing that so many people supported him and so many people were behind him…it has affected us all tremendously,” Strickland said.
Many teammates were present at the memorial held after school on Monday, May 18, on the football field. Each player held a blue balloon to represent Brady and released them into the sky.
“Through bad times and mistakes, he would always try to bounce back and have a positive attitude,” Strickland said. “He grew quite a bit in my two years working with him, and he grew into one of our leaders of our team. It’s unfortunate that we couldn’t keep watching him grow.” •
