Timothy L. Bowens (born February 7, 1973) is an athlete and former

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 tackle who played 11 seasons for the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team p ...

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 ...

(NFL). He played college football for the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi ( byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment ...

, and was chosen with the 20th pick of the

1994 NFL Draft The 1994 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 24–25, 1994, at the Marriott Ma ...

by the Miami Dolphins. The Dolphins were initially criticized for picking Bowens, as he was overweight and had played only nine games in his college career at Mississippi. He had a terrific rookie season in 1994, and Bowens was named 'The

NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Various entities present a National Football League Rookie of the Year Award each season to the top rookie(s) in the National Football League (NFL). The NFL considers the (rookie) of the year awards by the Associated Press (AP) to be its official ...

' by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...

. He played with the Miami Dolphins for 11 years"Profile: Tim Bowens"
NFL before he retired after the

2004 NFL season The 2004 NFL season was the 85th regular season of the National Football League. With New England as the defending league champions, regular season play was held from September 9, 2004 to January 2, 2005. Hurricanes forced the rescheduling o ...

High school career

Tim Bowens was born and grew up in

Okolona, Mississippi Okolona is a city in and one of the two county seats of Chickasaw County, Mississippi, United States. It is located near the eastern border of the county. The population was 2,692 at the 2010 census. History Okolona was named as Rose Hill in ...

, one of two county seats in rural

Chickasaw County Chickasaw County is the name of two counties in the United States: * Chickasaw County, Iowa * Chickasaw County, Mississippi Chickasaw County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, the population was 17,39 ...

. He played football at

Okolona High School Okolona High School is a public high school located in Okolona, Mississippi, United States. It serves grades 5–12. It is part of the Okolona Municipal Separate School District The Okolona Municipal Separate School District is a public scho ...

. He was an All-State pick as a senior and an All-District pick as a junior and senior. As a senior, he led his team to the Class AA semifinals and an 11-2 record. He was also a two-year letter winner in basketball.

References

1973 births Living people People from Okolona, Mississippi American football defensive tackles Itawamba Indians football players Miami Dolphins players Ole Miss Rebels football players National Football League Defensive Rookie of the Year Award winners American Conference Pro Bowl players {{defensive-lineman-1970s-stub