John Bowman (photo courtesy Benoit Pelosse, Montreal Alouettes)
11/26/2009 4:59:57 PM
Calgary, Alberta----Wingate University defensive end John Bowman (Rockingham, N.C./Richmond Senior HS) and his Montreal Alouettes teammates will play in the 97th Grey Cup Sunday. The Canadian Football League’s version of the Super Bowl will be played in Calgary’s McMahon Stadium Sunday night at 6:30 p.m. EST.
In his fourth season with the team, Bowman shares the CFL lead with 12 quarterback sacks. Bowman was named a 2009 East Division All-Star. In 2008, he led the Alouettes in fumble recoveries for the second year in a row. Bowman was second on the 2008 team charts in sacks and tackles for losses.
Montreal’s defense was brilliant in 2009, allowing a franchise low 324 points in an 18-game schedule and leading the team to an Alouette-record 15-win season. Bowman and his teammates hope this year’s Grey Cup ends better for the Alouettes. In 2008, Montreal dropped a heartbreaking 22-14 decision to the Calgary Stampeders in the 96th Grey Cup.
Wingate head coach Joe Reich believes Bowman is ready for the challenge. “During his time at Wingate, John Bowman was an all-out player,” Reich recalls. “When he finished his playing career, he coached for us and continued to work out.”
Reich remembers Bowman taking advantage of every opportunity. “John has a never-say-die attitude,” Reich says. “He made the most of his time in the A2 league…and now he is playing for the Grey Cup for the second year in a row.”
“John has an unbelievable motor,” Reich acknowledges. “His success in the CFL is well-deserved. It is neat to see a person’s work ethic and determination pay dividends.”
As a Wingate senior, Bowman received All-South Atlantic Conference honors in 2003. His senior campaign, he recorded 66 total tackles, 45 solo tackles, 21 assists, 17 tackles for loss (-88), 15 quarterback sacks (-80), two forced fumbles, two pass break-ups.
The same year, Bowman was ranked fourth in the NCAA in pass sacks (1.2), 31st in tackles for loss (1.5). For his career, he played in 38 games with 142 total tackles, 33 tackles for loss, 23 quarterback sacks, three forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and three pass break-ups.
Following his Bulldog career, Bowman signed with the af2 Daytona Beach Hawgs in 2005. The next year, he signed with AIFL Rome Renegades. He left the Renegades in June, 2006 to sign with the Alouettes.
WINGATE UNIVERSITY
Founded in 1896, Wingate University is a private four-year co-educational institution of 2,159 students offering active learning opportunities through personalized instruction, world travel, career discovery and community service.
Wingate offers more than 40 undergraduate majors in arts and sciences, business, communication, education, fine arts, music and sport sciences. It also offers graduate degrees in business, education, physician assistant studies and sport administration. In addition, the school awards the doctor of pharmacy and the doctor of education degrees.
Bulldog student-athletes compete in 17 NCAA Division II sports. Wingate University has won the South Atlantic Conference Echols Athletic Excellence Award for the past three years.
Wingate University is ranked number three among NCAA Division II Academic All-America® producing schools in the 2000’s with 34 honorees during this millennium. Only Pittsburg State (Kan.) University and Truman State (Mo.) University have produced more Academic All-America® honorees during this time period. Wingate’s 43 Academic All-America® honorees (lifetime) is tops among all SAC schools.
(A special thanks to Noah Sidel, the editor of MontrealAlouettes.com, for his contributions to this story.)