Tashawn Alexander Bower (born February 18, 1995) is an
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...
defensive end
Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football.
This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is ...
for the
Las Vegas Raiders
The Las Vegas Raiders are a professional American football team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Raiders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West div ...
of the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
LSU
Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...
Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...
as an
undrafted free agent
In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...
on May 1, 2017. Despite being undrafted, he made the Vikings 53 man roster. On October 29, he made his NFL debut against the
Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (A ...
, seeing action on special teams. On November 19, in his second game played, he saw his first defensive action of his career against the Los Angeles Rams and recorded his first career sack, on the Rams'
quarterback
The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...
,
Jared Goff
Jared Thomas Goff (born October 14, 1994) is an American football quarterback for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at California, where he set the Pac-12 Conference season records for passi ...
.
During the 2019 offseason, Bower suffered a torn Achilles and was placed on the non-football injury list. He was waived from the non-football injury list on October 15, 2019.
New England Patriots
On November 21, 2019, Bower was signed to the New England Patriots practice squad. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Patriots on January 7, 2020.
On September 5, 2020, Bower was waived by the Patriots and signed to the practice squad the next day. He was elevated to the active roster on October 24 and 31 for the team's weeks 7 and 8 games against the
San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...
and Buffalo Bills, and reverted to the practice squad after each game. He was promoted to the active roster on November 9. On December 31, 2020, Bower was placed on injured reserve.
On August 31, 2021, Bower was waived by the Patriots and re-signed to the practice squad.
Minnesota Vikings
On November 25, 2021, Bower was signed by the Minnesota Vikings off the Patriots practice squad.
Las Vegas Raiders
On April 11, 2022, the
Las Vegas Raiders
The Las Vegas Raiders are a professional American football team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Raiders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West div ...