{"id":60570,"date":"2025-11-22T09:10:17","date_gmt":"2025-11-22T09:10:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/60570\/"},"modified":"2025-11-22T09:10:17","modified_gmt":"2025-11-22T09:10:17","slug":"ryan-flournoy-fueled-by-fight-from-juco-to-the-cowboys-my-journey-created-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/60570\/","title":{"rendered":"Ryan Flournoy fueled by fight from JUCO to the Cowboys: \u2018My journey created me\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

FRISCO \u2014 Every time Ryan Flournoy enters the Cowboys<\/a> locker room, runs through the tunnel or steps onto the field, he sees his entire history. <\/p>\n

Flournoy can visualize the 99-pound, 5-3 high school freshman who was told by his coaches that it was unlikely he\u2019d ever play college football. The receiver can see that much taller kid walking on to Iowa Western Community College\u2019s team five years later after one season at Central Missouri. <\/p>\n

There, Flournoy tore his ACL on the first day of practice. He didn\u2019t have a car, so Flournoy walked 50 minutes on crutches every day to physical therapy motivated by the chance that he would be here, in the Cowboys\u2019 locker room. The once-small kid now nicknamed \u201cBig Flo.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy journey created me,\u201d Flournoy said. \u201cThe way I prepare for each game, for each practice, honestly, some would say it\u2019s abnormal.\u201d<\/p>\n

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And because of all his abnormalities, the 26-year-old wideout has become one of the Cowboys\u2019 most surprising, but reliable, options. The 6-1 receiver was selected by the Cowboys in the sixth round last year<\/a> after two successful seasons at Southeast Missouri State.<\/p>\n

In his second season with the Cowboys, Flournoy\u2019s recorded 17 receptions, 200 yards and two touchdowns after a quiet rookie season. He was cut in August before being signed to the practice squad two days later. <\/p>\n

By October, Flournoy had six catches for 114 yards against the Jets<\/a>, a performance that\u2019s made him stick out ever since. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a big, huge confidence-booster for him,\u201d wide receiver CeeDee Lamb said. \u201cI felt like he felt like he belonged. Everybody needs that. You can tell yourself that, until you go out and prove it to yourself, and I felt like ever since then \u2014 granted I\u2019ve known what he\u2019s had in the tank \u2014 for him to go out there and do it again … it\u2019s huge.\u201d<\/p>\n

But getting to that turning point wasn\u2019t easy. Flournoy questioned himself as a rookie. He felt at fault somehow. <\/p>\n

\u201cSeeing guys come from big schools not make it, and I come from the small school, I\u2019m like, \u2018Dang, what did I do to deserve this?\u2019\u201d Flournoy said. \u201cAnd definitely, some people could call it survivor\u2019s guilt or whatever, but some days I did feel bad for it.\u201d <\/p>\n

It took him a season to work through. <\/p>\n

Sure, Flournoy didn\u2019t come from a powerhouse program, but his smaller stops along the way gave him something worth keeping around. <\/p>\n

He can appreciate being on the practice squad because he\u2019s loved the game since he was 5. Flournoy is happy to have just \u201ctwo reps\u201d because the receiver was told he\u2019d never have any. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy journey has helped me because I\u2019m always to be the guy to do the dirty work,\u201d Flournoy said. \u201cAnd I don\u2019t complain about doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

And that attitude has shaped the way coaches see him, too. <\/p>\n

Head coach Brian Schottenheimer<\/a> and offensive coordinator Klayton Adams have never had a conversation explaining to the player why he\u2019s getting more playing time. It doesn\u2019t need an explanation. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a perfect example of the more you can do, the more you can do,\u201d Adams said. \u201cSo, we\u2019ve given him a few more opportunities because when he has the opportunities, he does something with them.\u201d <\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a joy for Adams to watch. He said Flournoy makes him excited on game day. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s awesome,\u201d Adams said. \u201cHe\u2019s one of those guys you see him come out of the tunnel on game day and he just loves football. He wants to do anything he can to help the team.\u201d <\/p>\n

But Adams doesn\u2019t know that there are images flashing through Flournoy\u2019s head in that moment. <\/p>\n

The small kid. The JUCO gamble. The hourslong wait to get drafted. To getting cut and now being trusted. It\u2019s all there, circling through his mind. And Flournoy wouldn\u2019t have it any other way. <\/p>\n

\u201cEvery day, I\u2019m grateful for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>Cowboys\u2019 Marshawn Kneeland was subject of welfare checks at Western Michigan, per report<\/a><\/p>\n

A new report says two of Kneeland\u2019s college coaches were once concerned he was mentally fit to possess a gun. <\/p>\n

\"Dallas<\/a>Cowboys DT Solomon Thomas selected as NFLPA\u2019s \u2018Community MVP\u2019 of the week<\/a><\/p>\n

Thomas was selected largely for his experienced handling of the death of his teammate, Marshawn Kneeland.<\/p>\n

\"Dallas<\/a>Dallas Cowboys\u2019 Marshawn Kneeland was driving over 145 mph moments before crash, DPS says<\/a><\/p>\n

An empty holster was found in his Dodge Charger, according to an incident report from the Texas Department of Public Safety. <\/p>\n

Find more Cowboys coverage from The Dallas Morning News here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FRISCO \u2014 Every time Ryan Flournoy enters the Cowboys locker room, runs through the tunnel or steps onto…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":60571,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[7581,6348,1044,102,113,104,103,80,154],"class_list":{"0":"post-60570","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-brian-schottenheimer","9":"tag-ceedee-lamb","10":"tag-cowboys","11":"tag-dallas","12":"tag-dallas-cowboys","13":"tag-dallas-headlines","14":"tag-dallas-news","15":"tag-nfl","16":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60570","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60570"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60570\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}