Lethon 'Lee' Flowers (born January 14, 1973) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

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who played for the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

most of his eight years in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) from 1995 to 2002. He was selected in the fifth round of the

1995 NFL draft The 1995 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 22–23, 1995 at the Paramount ...

. He played

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for the

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets is the name used for all of the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The teams have also been nicknamed the ...

Life and career

Flowers was born in 1973. At age 14, he spent three months in intensive care after a ruptured appendix, and came close to dying. He played for the

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...

Yellow Jacket for the 1991 season. He played cornerback in college at

Steelers

In 1995, he was a fifth-round pick for the

NFL draft The NFL draft, officially known as the Annual Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the most common source of player recruitment in the National Football League. Each team is given a position in the drafting order in reve ...

, joining the

. In October 1996, he was one of 35 NFL players handed fines from a game involving the Steelers and

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston, Texas, from its founding in 1960 Houston Oilers season, 1960 to 1996 Houston Oilers season, 1996. The Houston Oilers began play as a charter member of the Ame ...

, after a series of fights broke out on the field. In 1996, for the Steelers, he had 30 special teams tackles that season. In 1997, he was special teams captain for the Steelers, although he missed six weeks due to a sprained knee. He signed to a one-year contract in June 1998 with the Steelers. He played as a starter for the Steelers in 1998, and "finished as the Steelers' second-leading tackler with 117 total stops, including 94 solo tackles." The Pittsburgh Steelers re-signed Flowers to a multi-year contract in February 1999. The deal for four years was reportedly worth $10 million. During his eight year NFL career with the Steelers, he spent his first three years largely playing on special teams, moving into the starting lineup in 1998. In the 2002 season with the Steelers, he played 16 games and registered 58 tackles. He was not resigned.

Broncos

Flowers was signed by the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

in June 2003. In June 2003, it was announced he'd been suspended without pay for the first four games of the regular season, for violating the NFL's steroid policy. He had a one year deal with the club, and could still participate in training camp and preseason games. The Broncos issued a statement that they knew Flowers would be suspended before they signed him. Flowers said he tested positive for the over-the-counter stimulant ephedra, stemming from a vitamin he'd taken in December without knowing its content. Ephedra had been banned by the NFL since 2001, after the death of Korey Stringer. Flowers said he appealed the suspension in June, but lost a hearing. The 2003 season with the Broncos was his last in the NFL.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flowers, Lethon 1973 births Living people American football safeties Players of American football from Columbia, South Carolina Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football players Pittsburgh Steelers players Denver Broncos players 20th-century American sportsmen