UAB’s Zaire flournoy battles back from 2023 injury to anchor blazer offensive line

MARCH 28, 2024 - BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA

By Steve Irvine

It didn’t come in the way that he expected but Zaire Flournoy showed UAB football head coach Trent Dilfer and the rest of the coaching staff last fall that he was a winner.

Flournoy, a 6-foot-4, 320-pound junior from Douglasville, Ga., didn’t play a snap in Dilfer’s first regular season as the UAB head coach. Flournoy, in fact, never suited up for a game or a practice. What he did, though, was attack an extremely difficult situation in a way that resonated with the coaches and his teammates.

“He had an unbelievable season (while) injured,” Dilfer said.

To understand just how unbelievable, you must travel back to last March. Flournoy rarely got on the field during his first three seasons at UAB, serving mainly on special teams when he did play. Last spring, though, was a fresh start and during the first part of the practice sessions he took full advantage. That all changed on March 28, 2023 when he ruptured his Achilles tendon during a non-contact technique drill.

His breakout season ended long before it started.

“It was hard, I can’t lie,” Flournoy said. “It was a long 11, 12 months. Six months straight was just where I couldn’t do a lot of football activities. It was mainly strengthening. I still had that drive to keep trying to work for this goal that I’ve been working for so long. It was definitely really hard.

This is where the “unbelievable season” description by Dilfer comes into play.

“He led our team in community service hours,” Dilfer said. “He was a leader, even though he wasn’t playing. He held us together at times. There were many times last year when this thing could have sunk, really quick, and leadership like this kept us going.”

Flournoy had more than 60 hours of community service, which was not only the most in the football program but among the top service hours in the entire athletic department. He decided quickly that taking every opportunity to help others in the community was part of his rehab process.

It was not an easy decision to make.

“I felt like before I tore my Achilles, I wasn’t as social,” Flournoy said. “I kind of used my voice through football. I wasn’t the biggest talker. I stayed in my room (and was) very introverted. When I tore my Achilles, it kind of hurt me. I really didn’t have a voice. I didn’t have what most people know me for, which is football. I wanted to help myself find that voice.”

That voice came from a community service program that is the core of the UAB football program.

“Instead of sitting in my room and continuing to live the life I live, I was going to better myself,” Flournoy said. “Knowing it was going to be hard. I just signed up for anything I could. I just volunteered every day to help with social anxiety and learn how to talk and stuff. I think it did help me.”

Now, Flournoy is back on the football field. His first practice session came when UAB began spring drills on March 19. Beforehand, Flournoy said he sat quietly in the locker room, relishing the moment he put on his knee braces and helmet for the first time in nearly a year. Nerves hit him hard. The fear of reinjuring his Achilles was fresh in his mind.

About three hours later, as he kneeled in the post-practice scrum listening to Dilfer address the team, the emotions took over. Tears were shed and Flournoy walked away for a moment to compose himself.

“It really started when people started saying congratulations and stuff like that,” Flournoy said. “They were congratulating me for making it through my first practice. When we brought it together, hearing Coach Dilfer talk a little bit, it kind of just hit me. I was like, ‘Damn, I made it through a practice.’ It’s been like 350 days. I never put a helmet on, my knee braces on. All this work finally paid off. I was just happy.”

As of now, Flournoy is working toward regaining a starting spot that he appeared to win before the injury. He is working with the first team at right guard.

“You know, he’s just coming back from his Achilles and I can relate to him,” Dilfer said. “I tore both of mine, I was never the same athlete. He’s coming close to being the same athlete he was before he got hurt, which speaks volumes for our training staff, Dan (Springer) and everybody else involved in there and his work to rehab this thing. It’s one of the more devastating injuries you can have. To see a player come back from it, I’m just proud of him.”

Flournoy said, no matter what, he doesn’t want to ever forget the journey it took to get back on the field.

“I couldn’t understand why,” Flournoy said. “But, some things we’re not meant to understand. I just had to change it into a blessing. At the end of the day, it really did help me become who I am. I’m pretty grateful for it.”