Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM OCT. 14, 2023 17 Adams thought otherwise. "I'll be the judge of that," the former Washington State, Florida A&M and Arena Football League quarterback said. Flores ended up crying on Day 1. And Day 2, and 3, and so on. But he didn't give up. His mother wouldn't let him. Adams wouldn't let him either. So, Flores kept going to work, and he kept improving. Adams grew a liking to Flores rather quickly. There was just something about him. "He's a smart dude," Adams said. "He's fortunate to have his work ethic. He's smart, man. Rico is a high football- IQ dude. He's able to apply the things he's taught better than anyone else." Adams could tell Flores needed extra attention, intelli- gence aside. Flores' mom was transpar- ent with Adams; she told him about the situation at home and about how work would keep Flores out of her watchful eye more than she'd like. Adams opened Game-Fit as early as 4 a.m. for Flores when he was still in elementary school. Flores went back after school for even more face time. Instead of gunshots and helicopters, Flores heard X's and O's. "I was there almost every day," Flores said. "That was like my second home, 'the Fit,' just working there, grinding, seeing NFL and college players all in there work- ing too. It showed me what I need to be." Flores closely monitored what it took for the likes of Terrance Mitchell, Robert Turbin, Arik Armstead and Taron John- son, among others, to get to the NFL. They all worked with Adams at Game- Fit. Their presence was a different world from the one at home, even if it was just right down the street. It shaped Flores' view of adulthood for the better. "I was still looking up to gang mem- bers and drug dealers and stuff before I got big into football," Flores said. "That's who had the money. That's who was flashy." NUMBER ONE It's Flores who's flashy now. In a good way. Through his first five college games, he had 11 receptions for 141 yards and 1 touchdown. The TD was a go-ahead score against then-No. 6 Ohio State in the fourth quarter of the most highly anticipated matchup of the first month of the college football season. Flores added a 24-yard catch on an eventual game-winning drive at then-No. 17 Duke the following week. He tacked on a two-point conversion by way of a savvy slot relocation that left Notre Dame wide receivers coach Chansi Stuckey screaming, "Rico freak- ing Flores!" over the Fighting Irish coaching staff's headset communica- tion channel. Flores' coaches, past and present, aren't surprised he's produced in such a major way in the first few weeks of his college career. Folsom (Calif.) High School head coach Paul Doherty de- scribed Flores as "always on a mission." "He made friends, but he made friends on the move," Doherty said. "He had to go. He had to go to practice. He had to go to the weight room. He had to go to college. He had to go. He was get- ting out of here. You could go with him, but he wasn't going to stop and hang around for any distractions — innocent or otherwise. "He's just a grown-ass man out there playing football. That's the way he carried himself and that's the way he played." "He has no performance anxiet- ies," Notre Dame offensive coordinator Gerad Parker added. "He believes he has confidence in himself and he's so eager to learn." That's a credit to Flores's mother as well as Adams, who she named as her son's godfather not long after the two began bonding over training sessions — early in the morning and late at night. A d a m s a n d Flores laid out a list of goals when he was old enough to dream of accom- plishing them. Be a top youth pros- pect, check. Play varsity as a freshman, check. Twenty-five-plus scholarship offers, check. He had well over 30. High School All-American, check. Play Divi- sion I snaps as a freshman, check. There are more boxes to fill between now and then, but the main objective is to be one of the first wide receivers taken in a future NFL Draft. The earlier, the better. Bonus money isn't lost on Flores. He can make much more of it and in a much more fulfilling manner than how it came to Cruz or his father. When he gets it, he's going to be shar- ing it with his mother and 12-year-old sister. Moving them out of North High- lands. Floria opened an avenue for her son to leave. It'd only be right if he re- turned the favor. That's been his primary motivation for a while — to do for his family what Cruz can no longer do for his. "Once I got that first offer, I realized this was my destiny," Flores said. And though he's gone, Cruz is still very much a part of the journey. Just a few weeks before Cruz died, Flores posted an Instagram story asking what number he should wear in his senior season at Folsom. "You're always number one in my heart, brother," Cruz responded. "I'm proud of you and I love you. Keep going." Flores is Notre Dame's No. 17 as a freshman, but that likely won't last. "You'll be seeing me in No. 1 soon enough." ✦ "I was there almost every day. That was like my second home, 'the Fit,' just working there, grinding, seeing NFL and college players all in there working too. It showed me what I need to be." FLORES ON THE GAME-FIT TRAINING FACILITY Since he was a first grader, Flores has been work- ing out with and training at Lemuel Adams' (left) Game-Fit training facility in Sacramento, Calif. PHOTO COURTESY RICO FLORES JR.