He drew national attention in the early 1960s when he criticized Wallace's "Stand in the Schoolhouse Door" incident, which was an attempt to bar African Americans from enrolling in the University of Alabama.
He also favored the integration of public schools and prosecuted Ku Klux Klansmen in the killings of civil rights workers.
The family received threatening phone calls at all hours of the night, their house was frequently vandalized, and a cross was burned on their lawn.
At an open meet in Modesto, California, in May 1965, he beat 1964 Olympic silver medalist Blaine Lindgren in the 42-inch hurdles.
[1] Flowers received scholarship offers from more than 100 colleges,[5] and was heavily recruited by Alabama head coach Bear Bryant.
He was intrigued, however, by the University of Tennessee, where Coach Chuck Rohe was gradually building the track program into a national powerhouse.
Along with track, Flowers joined Tennessee's football team, which Coach Doug Dickey had been rebuilding into a national contender.
[1] He registered five catches for 80 yards and a touchdown in Tennessee's 18-12 win over the Larry Csonka-led Syracuse Orange in the 1966 Gator Bowl.
He showed up at the September high altitude Olympic Trials in Echo Summit just barely recovered, but struggled to a non-qualifying 5th place.
[6] His Olympic ambitions in shambles, Flowers rejoined Tennessee's football team in time for the 1968 season.
In his first year, he was mostly used on kickoff returns (21.6 yards average), before being placed on the taxi squad to make room on the roster for an injured Bob Hayes.
[12] In 1971, he returned to a reserve role and was waived on October 25, one day after the Cowboys defeated the New England Patriots in the first game at Texas Stadium.
While playing for the Giants he also was a part of the International Track Association,[15] where he was contacted by the founders of the World Football League.
[16] His rights were later sent to the Houston Texans, where he worked in the team's front office, while his Giants contract ran out and he could return to play.
In 1983, Flowers lost millions of dollars on a bad investment, and was censured and fined by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.