BLACKSBURG - For almost everyone involved with Virginia Tech football, tonight's meeting with rival Miami at the Orange Bowl is a road game.

Not for Willie Flowers.

The Delray Beach, Fla., resident and father of Hokies cornerback Brandon Flowers finally gets to sleep in on a Saturday.

For more than three years, Flowers, 50, has spent most of his fall weekends driving 1,700 miles round-trip from the southern tip of the Sunshine State to the hills of Virginia to watch his son play the game they both love.
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Tonight, it'll take just a short drive for him to reach the stadium in which he once expected to play to watch the child with whom he shares an incredible bond.

"The Orange Bowl, baby! I can't wait," Willie said. "I never got to play in front of that big crowd. Seeing Brandon on that field? Oh, man, I'm going to be going crazy. I'll be more excited than him."

Willie's journey is about a dream broken and promise kept.

In the spring of 1978, he was a second-string safety at Florida State after two seasons as a junior college All-American defensive back at Arizona Western College. But he'd expected to start right away for the Seminoles and didn't see eye-to-eye with his position coach, so he left school and football, never to return to either.

"I didn't have that person to tell me to stick it out, to do the right thing," Willie said. "That was the biggest mistake I've made. That's why me and Brandon talk a lot.... You don't ever want to sit back and say, 'If I'd done this or that, I wonder what I could've been.' "
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A few years later, as he began his 27 years of service to a Florida power company, Willie found himself divorced with two children. When Brandon and his younger sister Brittany went to live with their mother, Willie swore to make the most of his weekends with the kids.

"I vowed to always be there for them," he said.

So when Brandon's grades went south in high school and it looked as if another immense football talent in the Flowers family would be wasted, Willie moved his son in with him for his senior year. The grades improved, but not enough. Brandon hadn't taken school seriously for three years, so his GPA was less than a 2.0.

"The big schools backed off," Willie said. "Some smaller colleges wanted to sign him. But I told him, 'Man, we're better than that. You can be big-time, but it's going to take a lot of hard work.' "

And money. Willie heard from several college recruiters that Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Va., was a great place to get your academics in order and get noticed by Division I coaches.

The $21,000-a-year price tag, however, was hefty.

"You want the best for your kids, so I decided to make that sacrifice," Flowers said. "I took out a loan from my 401(k) and we had a talk. I said, 'Hey, man, I'm kicking in a lot of money here. You've got to do your part, work hard.'

"That's all I had to tell him."

At Hargrave, Brandon not only buckled down in the classroom but also improved on the field. He added some muscle to his 5-foot-10 frame and some speed to his game.

Willie watched it all. His long drives to Virginia started back then, in 2003, as he made good on his promise to always be there. He intended to make sure his money was being put to good use, that his son would wind up on the stage Willie had always craved.

Since then, Willie has rented so many cars that the folks at the counter now let him have his pick of the lot.

When Virginia Tech offered Brandon a scholarship after a year at Hargrave, Willie quickly mapped out the stretch between Delray Beach and Blacksburg. He makes the same three stops every time - Daytona Beach for coffee, Georgia for coffee and gas, and finally South Carolina for another caffeine fix and fill-up.

"I've got it down to a science, so that it'll only take me 12 hours," Willie said.

For Saturday games, he leaves Florida at 9 p.m. Friday and arrives at 9 a.m. the next day at Brandon's apartment, showers, eats and heads to the stadium.

There's neither time nor a need for a nap. He's wide awake on game day. Especially this season, as Willie has watched his son blossom into perhaps the ACC's top cornerback.

The redshirt sophomore leads the league in passes defended, with 11, is one of the ACC's best hitters from his position, has 33 tackles and even leads the Hokies with three sacks.

Defensive backs coach Torrian Gray, once a Hokies corner himself, said Brandon could end up being one of the best ever to play the position at Tech.

"Some nights, when I'm in my bed, I pray and thank God for this," Brandon said. "I could've been back home doing nothing, but now I'm living out my dream, and his, about to play in the Orange Bowl. It's real special, just having him there for me like when I was small. I don't take it for granted, because not everyone has this.

"He's showing me he loves me, loves the way I play and that he won't miss a game."

Actually, Willie has missed two games since Brandon came to Virginia Tech. One was last year's trip to West Virginia, where his son feared he'd run into "nasty fans, who might dump beer on your head." The other was the second game of 2004, when a hurricane in Florida kept Willie home.

While the father was repairing underground power lines that day, his son was returning his first career interception for a touchdown. Later in that game, though, Flowers suffered a season-ending injury and received a medical redshirt.

Willie vowed not to miss any more games and since then has taken off every Friday from September until January so that if bad weather comes, he won't be asked to stay. If the weather report is good heading into the weekend, Flowers works Fridays before driving all night.

He drives to the road games, too, but did fly to the Maryland game last year and the Boston College match-up this year.

"You can see it on his face that it means a lot to Brandon," he said. "He comes out of that tunnel and he's looking for me to be there. We see each other, do our little pointing at each other, and it's on then. He's like, 'OK, Dad made it safe. Time to rock and roll.' "

After home games, father and son head back to Brandon's place and, of all things, watch football till they pass out.

Brandon doesn't hit the town to party after games, and several of his teammates don't either. They want to come hang out with the man they call "Willie C."

He talks football and life with equal authority. If they had a bad game, he lets them know. If he's heard they've been in trouble or slacking in class, he sets them straight.

"Flowers is a great person, and he learned it from a great dad," receiver Justin Harper said. "He's one of the best things that could ever happen to a young man. Love from a father, it's something I've never had, something I might not ever have. But I know through Flowers' dad, I'll always have a dad."

For all the sacrifice his father has made, Brandon hopes to return the favor. If the NFL is in his future, he said he'll fly his dad to games.

"And buy him whatever he wants," said the son.

Until then, it's rental cars and all-night rides. The Hokies' past two games were only five days apart. Tech played Southern Miss on a Saturday night and Clemson the following Thursday. Willie was in Lane Stadium for both, and clocked in for work Monday through Wednesday in between.

"My friends think I'm crazy," Willie said. "But I guess it's kind of in my blood. My dad was a long-distance truck driver, so I get it honest. And I love hanging out with my kids. As long as they love hanging out with their dad, I'll be there."