Bowie State University/submitted Largo High graduate Ramono Flowers, 26, has traveled a long road to a spot on the Bowie State University football team.

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Ramono Flowers is young man among even younger men on the Bowie State University football team.

The 26-year old redshirt junior tailback has had an inspiring journey to his place in the Bulldogs’ backfield.

“When I think of Ramono, I think of perseverance,” Bowie State coach Damon Wilson said. “He’s a guy who has persevered a lot to get where he is.”

After graduating from Largo High School in 2003, Flowers accepted a full scholarship to play at Central Michigan University. By the end of his redshirt freshman season for the Chippewas under coach Brian Kelly (now the coach at Notre Dame) and running backs coach Butch Jones (now the coach at Cincinnati), Flowers had some tough decisions to make.

“I had a child on the way, so I wanted to come home and work,” Flowers said.

His son, Ramono Flowers Jr. is now 6.

Upon returning home in 2005, Flowers took a job with home security system company ADT. But after several years, he started to have some regrets about leaving Central Michigan.

“I would watch college football and see Central Michigan go to the Motor City Bowl a few times,” Flowers said. “It was always in the back of my mind to say that I played college football. I felt like I missed an opportunity. I wanted to go back to school to get that chance.”

Flowers attended Bowie State’s spring football game in 2009, where he spoke with Wilson. The two already were acquainted, as Flowers had been youth league teammate of Wilson’s younger brother Brian.

That day, Wilson offered Flowers a full scholarship to join the program. Wilson said Flowers has been a model student-athlete, particularly given his additional responsibilities as a father.

“It shows a lot about the type of character that he has,” Wilson said. “He’s a gentleman that works harder than anybody on the roster. He’s the epitome of a student athlete when you talk about a guy that can get it done on the football field, in the classroom and take care of his family.”

And Flowers also has been a positive influence in the locker room.

“It’s very rewarding to have a guy who does a great job wearing both hats,” Wilson said. “He’s a mature guy, but at the same time he can interact with the 18- and 19-year olds we have on the team. He’s like a coach on the football field and locker room in terms of his personality to mentor the young men on the team.”

Flowers is especially close to Bulldog’s tailbacks Keith Brown (Suitland High) and Kendall Jefferson (Temple Hills).

“I feel like I’m a big brother,” he said. “A lot of [teammates] come up to me and say, ‘You’re my role model.’ I handle business on the field, in the classroom and once I’m out of school I’m a father, too. It’s tough being a student athlete and father because football takes a lot of your time.”

A finance major, Flowers has maintained a grade point average better than 3.0. On the field, Flowers has had a big effect, earning All-Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association Rookie Team honors in 2009.

Following an injury-filled 2010 campaign, Flowers came back determined. This season, he is fourth in the CIAA in rushing with 271 yards through four games, and the Bulldogs are leading the CIAA North Division with a 3-1 record.

“If he stays healthy, he’s going to be someone that we lean on a lot,” Bulldogs offensive coordinator Jason Woodman said. “He is going to take a lot of carries and be productive in the run game. We use him in the pass game. He is someone we count on week in and week out.”

For Flowers, the hope is that when he is done playing, people will think about the efforts he made on and off the field.

“I want to be remembered for my drive and how hard I work,” he said. “I’m in the weight room, on the track, working in classroom. I think I’m a true definition of a hard-working student athlete.”

thampton@gazette.net