Bowman Back in Town Talking Memories and Value of College Football
STILLWATER – Before there was Dez Bryant, before there was Justin Blackmon and that wave of big, physical receivers that came through Mike Gundy’s Oklahoma State program, there was Adarius Bowman. I always thought Gundy wanted his team, his offense, his quarterbacks to enjoy the comfort of having a big, physical, athletic target like he had when he played with Hart Lee Dykes. Bowman was a lot like Dykes. He is 6-3, 215-pounds and very athletic.
His first season after sitting out following his transfer from North Carolina, he helped the Cowboys and quarterback Bobby Reid turn the season around. It was 2006 and with a 3-2 record the Cowboys were at a crossroads in Lawrence, Kansas trailing 20-0 to the Jayhawks at halftime. The second half Reid cranked it up with Bowman catching 13 passes for 300-yards and four touchdowns, one a 64-yard connection with Reid. It was a win that pushed the Cowboys to the Independence Bowl against Alabama. This was a down Alabama team that had already fired David Shula as head coach and was soon to hire Nick Saban.
The 34-31 Cowboys win ended with a Jason Ricks game winning field goal, but Bowman caught a fourth quarter touchdown pass. Earlier in the game in the second quarter, one of his other two grabs in the game was 35-yard one-handed grab that set up a touchdown.
“I remember that, but you didn’t realize how important that game was, but Alabama built themselves back up and they are one of the premier schools now,” Bowman said of that game and that one-handed catch. “I’ll never forget that game and that one-handed catch. I thought it was out of reach, but I made something happen.”
Bowman is back in the United States after making a lot happen in a record-setting career in the Canadian Football League. His life size image is up in the Oklahoma State football office honoring his soon-to-be Hall of Fame career with 652 receptions for 9,491-yards. He averaged 14.6-yards a catch, nearly averaging a CFL first down (15-yards) with each reception and he caught 49 touchdown passes.
He’s married and has three daughters; the girls are Jena (three), Kenza (almost two), and Aiyah (five months). Bowman is quite the family man and Stillwater is very attractive to him as he is also looking at the Dallas-area as being the future Bowman home.
“Stillwater has grown a lot,” Bowman said having been back. “I went up there and had a blessed career in Canada. “Me and the family made our way back to the United States and I had to come back here and meet up with the former guys and touch base with the University and see some of those changes they made. They held to it and Stillwater is a special place. It would be a dream come true because many of us get to the point that we want to go back and pay it forward, just give back. I hope that is what happens with the next chapter with me no matter where it is at, but Stillwater will always be a special place.”
Bowman has evolved off the football field as well as on it in Canada. Adarius for Autism is a foundation that he built from scratch. The program is in its sixth year and promotes working with autistic children and bringing a physical aspect to their development. Bowman is very active with the foundation at all levels and extremely enthusiastic about the work being done. The program also funds education about autism. He is also involved with an education-based publishing company in Canada in Castlerock Research Corporation, a company that produces study aid material from grades third-to-twelfth.
“Being an athlete gives you a social platform and I believe in using it whenever I can to do some good,” Bowman said. “I believe in giving and you give some and it will come back to you.”
Bowman is also working with Legacy Fitness Academy and is involved in working and doing some camps with children, doing training and education on how to stay fit and be in good shape.
It all sparked me to ask Bowman about his college experience. He came from North Carolina with Gundy’s choice as receivers coach in Gunner Brewer. Bowman told me he still stays in touch with Brewer as he is coaching at Louisville. He also has stayed in touch with Joe DeForest, who is now at North Carolina State. Cowboys head of strength, speed, and conditioning Rob Glass is one of his all-time favorites and another coach he stays in touch with along with Mike Gundy.
It sparked me with all that is going on, to ask Bowman if he felt he got a fair deal in his time as a college football player. I asked, did he feel cheated, taken advantage of?
“Not at all, not at all,” Bowman answered. “I’m not a tweener, but for me, the game has evolved, you know what I mean? I still have some of those old school roots in me, so I guess I’m not going to say guys don’t deserve it. They are just leaving home and depending on their situation or their circumstances there are some guys that could use a little more help, you know what I mean? I’m not saying money-wise but making college home. Some of us were; I was far from home and didn’t get to go home much.”
“I like the way they are doing it around education,” Bowman continued. “It makes a lot more sense and I think the thing that I don’t want to see is it becomes a distraction there is more attention on that than playing ball. Guys are wanting this or wanting that, and coaches are trying to go beyond and do these things. It takes away from the whole concept. You know in football there is a tradition of doing things as a football player. I always tell people it is a brotherhood, a community. It’s work, it’s hard, but it’s fair. You put your work in, and I feel the tuition, the cost of the education, and living expenses is enough.”
Bowman talks about being a grinder and learning from that grinding. He also sounds like someone who appreciates the way college football was in his time and doesn’t want to see it change dramatically.
“You know you asked me the first question, if I felt cheated,” repeated Bowman. “You know now that the career is over, that education, that degree and I’m looking forward to getting my master’s [degree] at some point, that education aspect of it is huge. I think that is more than enough (reward for student-athletes) and a great opportunity. I can’t change the rules, but I hope it does not become a distraction.”
I hate to tell Bowman, but I’m afraid it is already well into the distraction phase. The hope should be that it gets a resolution that allows college football to keep happening.