Aug
Perseverance pays off for Als’ Bowman
Courtesy Montreal Gazette:
It’s the classic story of perseverance, determination and dedication. Of playing anywhere, in any league, often for nothing much more than pocket change.
“I had no choice. I still had football in my system,” said rush-end John Bowman, in his fourth season with the Alouettes, but a man who has generated little publicity over that time, mostly because he never craved it.
The 6-foot-2, 258-pound Bowman still goes out of his way to avoid the spotlight, but might soon have no choice but to embrace it. With a quarterback sack last Saturday, against Winnipeg, Bowman now shares the team lead with Anwar Stewart, each at five. With 11 games still remaining, Bowman seems virtually certain of eclipsing his career high of eight, established last season.
“The No. 1 thing is his intensity is very high. He goes extremely hard all the time,” defensive co-ordinator Tim Burke said. “He’s a good pass rusher with good hands and a motor to get to the quarterback. A lot of guys give up if their first move isn’t successful, but Bo never stops.”
Kind of like his career.
Bowman spent four years at Wingate University in North Carolina, where he was an all-American. In 2003, as a senior, he started every game, recording 66 tackles, 15 sacks and 17 tackles for losses although he weighed only 212 pounds.
His weight precluded him from dreaming about the NFL and he had yet to obtain his marketing degree, so he returned to school for a couple of years, working for the Bulldogs as a student assistant while completing his education. Bowman coached the defensive ends and worked in quality control, breaking down film.
“My weight held me back, and it’s not like I had many job skills,” he admitted.
Wanting to remain active in the game, he returned to the field in 2005, playing for Daytona Beach of the Arena Football League2. Players received $300 for a win and $225 for a loss – when they got paid. The team had some problems with solvency; Bowman remembers getting paid only half the time. And the players bounced from hotel to hotel during the season, although their accommodation was supposed to be handled by management.
He went directly to Sioux City at the end of the season, to a team that was on more solid financial footing. Bowman’s break came in 2006, with the Rome Renegades of the American Indoor Football League.
He had 10 sacks for the Georgia-based team, and was a teammate of future Als backup quarterback Marcus Brady and former offensive lineman Dwayne Morgan. Montreal management was watching film of those two, but Bowman kept catching their eye. He signed with the Als as a free agent following the Renegades’ season.
Bowman’s play has improved each season as he has become more of a component along the defensive line. He entered 2009 with 17 career sacks in 43 games.
“He’s playing real well,” Burke said. “He has one more year under his belt … and he’s a little thicker.”
Bowman’s aunt, Robin Scott, died last winter and he decided to re-dedicate himself after the woman who almost single-handedly raised him until his teenaged years. “I re-focused and set my priorities,” he explained. “I had always done a lot of partying during the offseason.”
Bowman returned to Montreal early in January, agreeing to be mentored by Stewart. The two trained like Trojans, even taking up yoga, to become more flexible.
“I played good last season,” Bowman said. “But my biggest downfall was my change of direction. I’ve become more flexible, although they’d probably tell you I’m still stiff.”
The partnership between Bowman, 27, and Stewart has worked marvelously. Stewart, now 33, and in his eighth season with the Als, wanted to take a more active role in the leadership department, and figured he’d start with Bowman. The two even vacationed together in Panama City, Fla., Stewart’s home town.
“I have to show him, being a veteran guy and a leader,” Stewart explained. “I’m not going to be here in five years, but he probably will. I wanted to show him how to train and work.
“He’s really good and he’s only a young kid, still learning. It’s scary. He has all the tools.”
Bowman, a potential free agent next February, worked out for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last winter but failed to receive a contract offer.
