A pair of homecomings await Stephen Bowen. The Washington Redskins defensive end’s infant son, Stephen Bowen III, arrives home Friday for the first time since he was born July 28 as a micro preemie. Bowen then heads back to Dallas on Monday to face his former Cowboys teammates.
Recommended Stories
Now that’s a memorable long weekend.
It’s a crossroad of personal and professional joys, each incomparable. Nothing will match the feeling of holding his son at home, especially since Stephen III’s twin brother, Skyler, died 10 days after their birth. Stephen has grown to 6 pounds, 5 ounces, allowing his father to smile over his son’s successful fight.
Bowen didn’t see his son for a month after he came to Washington for training camp. The child eventually was strong enough to transfer from Dallas to Inova Loudoun Hospital, where Bowen would go after practice each day “just trying to be familiar with him.”
All the while, Bowen was trying to fit into a new team after five years with the Cowboys.
“Coming here, you’re a little nervous,” he said. “Don’t know if everybody’s going to accept me.”
Imagine, a 6-foot-5, 306-pounder sounding like a first grader wondering whether anyone will like him on his first day of school. Guess some things never change.
Bowen signed a five-year, $27.5?million deal. That’s a blockbuster contract for someone who started only 11 games since 2006, though nine of them came last year in place of the injured Marcus Spears. Washington was revamping its line, and Bowen has been steady in the first two games with one sack in the opener.
Bowen admits it’s “going to be emotional” when he returns to Dallas. He arrived as an undrafted rookie from Hofstra and left as a millionaire.
“It will be different coming from the opposite end,” Bowen said of being a visitor in Dallas for the first time. “[Dallas] made a good effort [to re-sign me], but at the end of the day I felt this was the best fit for me.”
Cowboys lineman DeMarcus Ware and Bowen still talk once or twice a week, though not this week — “I don’t want to give them any intuition toward anything,” Bowen said. But seeing his old linemates will be gratifying, especially if the Redskins win and reach 3-0.
“It will be weird not playing next to [Ware] anymore, but it will be a good homecoming going down there,” Bowen said. “I’m real excited to get down there and prove a point. … You gotta win.”
Said Ware: “I wish [Bowen] was still here. It’s weird.”
Like teammates Barry Cofield (New York Giants) and Tim Hightower (Arizona), who have already faced their former teams, Bowen is eager for his turn.
“I really want this win,” he said. “This is competition. It’s going to be men against men and whoever wins …”
Examiner columnist Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Read more on Twitter @Snide_Remarks or email [email protected].
