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It is not commonly known, but when Bowers signed his first professional contract with the Raiders, he asked for a clause that allowed him to spend his first off season back on campus solely to finish his degree requirements. The Raiders knew that he would take the time when he was not in class, to adhere to a strict off-season workout protocol to be in peak condition when he rejoined the team this summer. Has anybody out there heard anything to top that? In these times? There are countless hurrahs and sidebars for this guy, but not enough has been said about Brock Bowers, the student-athlete. He had the perception and foresight to take care of an important objective in his life and had the commitment to follow through.
What makes this story somewhat out of character for the legion of Georgia graduates in this state is that Brock is not Georgia born and Georgia bred. He doesn’t hail from Valdosta or Waycross or Dublin or Vidalia, a third generation Bulldog who grew up swooning to Redcoat Band music and listening to game highlights from the legendary Larry Munson.
He didn’t know about Uga’s pedigree, and he was not a dyed-in-thewool Bulldog whose family couldn’t wait to pack up the van and leave before daybreak and tailgate in the Sanford Stadium environs eager to celebrate when the Dawgs won and shed a tear when they lost.
However, when he first came here, he was made comfortable by the Southern hospitality that made him and his family feel welcome. My feeling is that he will be a model alumnus just as he was a model student and an extraordinary athlete.
Someday, the guess here is that he will make it back for homecoming and fraternize with his old friends and teammates and maybe have an opportunity to influence the decision of “little Brock Bowers” to play for his alma mater.
And while we are passing out helpings of praise for one of our most recent graduates, let’s send tribute to his parents DeAnna and Warren Bowers. They laid the foundation for this extraordinary athlete to become a solid citizen, an average guy who does not think of himself as a great athlete. Just a lucky one.
We should commission DeAnna and Warren to write a book about how to raise a precocious young athlete with such basics as modesty, humility, honesty, loyalty and genuineness with an appreciation for scholarship, citizenship, and traditional down home manners.
Brock Bowers has always wanted to be considered an everyday man. We have cheered the touchdown maker and now let’s offer hosannas to the scholar athlete.
