Eddie Royal called Brandon Flowers' dad while recruiting him to Chargers

The opportunity to face his former Kansas City Chiefs team factored into Brandon Flowers' decision to sign with the San Diego Chargers, but it was the efforts of Eddie Royal that may have sealed the deal.

As part of his recruitment process, Royal even placed a phone call to Flowers' father to sell him on the idea of his son playing for the Chargers.

"To be honest, that was one of the biggest sellers of San Diego," Flowers said, via Michael Gehlken of U-T San Diego. "He had nothing but great things to say. Being that I knew Eddie for so long, I knew he wouldn't steer me in the wrong direction."

Flowers and Royal, both 28 years old, played together at Virginia Tech. Both were second-round picks in the 2008 NFL Draft, with Flowers going to the Chiefs and Royal to the Chargers.

So when he caught wind of Flowers' release in June, Royal didn't waste any time convincing his long-time friend to join him in San Diego.

"I shot him a text," Royal said. "I called him shortly after. Even before I knew our team was interested, I wanted to put it out there that I would love to play with him again. ... I couldn't believe what I was reading at first. After that, I went into action."

As it turns out, the Chargers were interested in Flowers, and approached Royal for background information. Flowers worked out for the team on June 18 and signed a one-year deal a week later.

Flowers will face the Chiefs twice this season: first on Oct. 19 and again on Dec. 28.