#95 Tim Bowens. The most underrated football player I have ever seen; and that is exactly how he liked it.

    Since the unification of the NFL and AFL in 1967 only 8 Defensive Tackles have won Defensive Rookie of the Year. The first to win the award as an interior Defensive player in 1969 was rated by the NFL as the 13th greatest player in HISTORY!! “Mean” Joe Greene! Don Shula had so much admiration for Joe Greene that in 1991 he hired Joe Greene to be his Defensive Line Coach.

1994

During the teams scouting process in preparation for the upcoming draft, One of the greatest players of all time, Joe Greene, saw a momentary glimpse from an unknown player with practically no experience. He was so enamored by what he observed that he convinced Shula to personally travel to meet this unknown and dismissed player. That player was Tim Bowens, who only played 9 games in his college career. The GREAT Joe Greene, by himself, traveled to Mississippi to meet Tim in order to verify his conviction. They met at a local dilapidated pool hall often visited by the very private Bowens, and after a few racks where Joe embarrassed Tim in pool, according to Tim, The HOFamer was convinced of the character of the volatile yet Humble young man.

When you watch the films, you are looking at guys who can do this, but they can't do that, Then you're watching a guy doing all of it and you're not dreaming he can do it. Bowens can do it."  

Joe Greene

With the 20th pick in the NFL Draft Miami selects WHO?

Tim was not a popular pick, understandably, NO ONE knew who he was, furthermore, everyone was confounded by the inconceivable investment in a player with practically no objective experience. Tim Bowens himself was so surprised by the pick that he confessed after retirement that he walked into the situation with haunting distrust. The organization was mercilessly criticized. 

“We all understood the first day of training camp that Timmie was a man not to be f#%ked with” 

OJ McDuffie

According to Teammates, Coaches, Local Media, and Bowens history of willful isolation, Tim was a pathological introvert. 95 hated attention, had no ambition for accolades, and had no desire for recognition. He didn’t care about the consequences of optics because his motivation wasn’t success, he just wanted respect. According to OJ, day one of Bowens Rookie training camp he was a victim of the traditional Rookie hazing, where a Teammate put hot sauce in his food after a Shula Two-a-day, and the unambitious 320 pound Alpha took his lunch knife and violently assaulted the offending player, so visceral was his reaction that Bowens was never trifled with again in his illustrious career. 

At the conclusion of the 1994 Season  Tim Bowens was the 5th Defensive Interior player EVER to win Rookie Defensive Player of the Year, Joe Greene was vindicated by sharing the rare distinction with the unknown and misunderstood Bowens.

Notables

Bowens didn’t miss a single game his first 7 seasons, and only missed 5 games in 10 years. 

Bowens was a two time Pro Bowler

Bowens was the Captain of the defense every year of his career after his rookie campaign.

Bowens played his whole career with the Dolphins

Bowens was Shula’s last first round pick.

Teammate Quotes

During Jason Taylors Hall of Fame Speech, Tim Bowens was the first teammate he mentioned.

“I'm going to start off with Tim Bowens. Tim Bowens is a guy a lot of people probably don't know about. Tim Bowens! Very, very understated. He didn't like to talk to the media a whole lot because he went about doing his job. But he was one of the baddest son of a guns I've ever been around and the absolute best teammate.”


Zach Thomas


“Tim Bowens, He kept them off me. He never wanted the glory or the accolades. None of us could have done what we did without him."

Sam Madison 

"Timbo was the transmission that made the machine run. He was as valuable as any teammate I ever had, yet he wanted absolutely NONE of the credit for it."

Mark Dixon

“Timbo has no reverse in his gear box”

Tim Bowens when asked to reflect on Zach Thomas Rookie season. 

“I was too tired to notice Zach in the huddle during training camp, I honestly didn’t care, I noticed Zach week one when he laid out a fool!!”

https://youtu.be/i_BiIVvt_DM

Zach and Tim have been best friends ever since.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What I missed (Jaylen Wright)

Image
During this years voyage of evaluating draft prospects, I was not impressed by any RB, Everyone I evaluated I felt where JAGS, including Wright.  In my notes: Long Strider Fights the ball as a pass catcher Played in 10 personal shotgun basically his whole career in Tennessee. I HATE 10 Personal (5 linemen, 4 Receivers, 1 RB, 1 QB) I thought to myself, "of-course he leads the NCAA in yards per attempt, he is running behind empty boxes ALL THE TIME." I will admit that I am jaded by my love for Achane, but Wright IS NOT Achane! That being said, Achane couldn't be the primary back in a 10 personal offense. That is the variable I ignorantly combed over. .  Although I stand by my evaluation of his inert ability as a pure runner, I have come to realize that to run 10 personal as your primary offense the HB must be able to BLOCK!! Jaylen Wright is an exceptional blocker, best blocking HB I have seen in A LONG TIME. Wright was benefitting from what I call the 'Gronk Equation...
Read more

Alfie Dogs Top 10 Prospects 2024.

Image
1.) Jared Verse  Edge Defender Florida State Verse is a relatively inexperienced football player , and that shows up in some pass-rush counters and in tackling, but he brings his elite talent with a hard hat and lunch pail approach to every snap, wins with strength regularly and is built like a hall of famer. I LOVE THIS PLAYER Very powerful player. Speed-to-power move can be devastating. Violent hands. First-step explosiveness is NFL-caliber. Smart with his swim move. He can go to it quickly and instinctively to counter the momentum and direction of a pulling blocker. 2.) Joe Alt Tackle Notre Dame The NFL draft is all about finding players with size, speed and strength who have the IQ to use those traits optimally. That's Joe Alt, and that should spell a top-10 selection as a future long-term tackle. Hands are consistent in their pre-punch placement. Extremely impressive athlete. Great awareness to look for work and block the most pressing defender. Has a finisher’s mentality in t...
Read more

The Story of Christi

Image
Christi is a guitar, An Ibanez Ex350 made in South Korea that my father bought me in 1989. Technically Christi is the second guitar I ever owned, but my first guitar was a cheap excuse of a guitar called “Starforce”. My point is that Christi was the first real guitar I had when I actually became a capable guitarist.  One of the most spiritual concepts of learning the discipline of playing guitar is an inert relationship with the instrument. Many may think that the electric guitars quality as an instrument is related to the manufacture. Nothing is further from the truth. The “electronics” of an electric guitar can be easily swapped for premium electronics, what stands out in most guitars is, at the risk of sounding ridiculous, the soul of the wood.  I have played 200$ guitars that were far superior in just being blessed by that inert quality, than 3000$ guitars. Christi had that inert quality. I have owned more than 20 guitars in my life, and I have played thousands, yet it too...
Read more