‘I still have a little fire left,’ Als’ Bowman says
Defensive end is active leader in sacks with 121 — and feels he has more to prove
WINNIPEG John Bowman cried at the end of the 2017 season, the annual emotional outburst he always seems to display, leading to speculation — yet again — his retirement was imminent.
Most of his Alouettes teammates certainly thought so. And yet, here he is, once again, his return for the upcoming season confirmed this winter, at the age of 35 and heading into his 13th Canadian Football League season.
“I thought it was over, that’s why I let out some emotions. I really thought it was over,” Bowman said Friday, as CFL week festivities continued in this city. “I don’t want to get kicked out of the game. I’ve watched great players ... Uzooma Okeke, Anwar Stewart ... kicked out unceremoniously. I don’t want to be that guy.
“I don’t want them to say, ‘Bowman, you stink. Get out of here.’ ”
The Als might be rancid, losers of 15 of 18 games last season, including their last 11. And perhaps Bowman’s best-before date has already passed, but he’s far from a washedup, over-the-hill veteran trying to hang on for one more season.
The defensive end played all 18 games last season despite playing with a fractured hand, strained hip and torn tendon in his finger. Indeed, he has played every game four of the last five seasons, the only blip coming in 2015, when former head coach Tom Higgins ill-advisedly decided to make Bowman a healthy scratch.
And Bowman continued doing his thing, introducing his 6-foot-3, 255-pound body to quarterbacks with great regularity. He led the Als, with nine quarterback sacks — no other player had more than three — while producing 36 tackles, recovering a fumble and forcing two others. He also knocked down a pair of passes.
Bowman is the league’s active sacks leader, with 121. Three years after his retirement, whenever that happens, he should gain automatic induction into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.
And yet, at the end of the day, Bowman said it meant little in the grand scheme of things because the Als continued to lose, missing the playoffs for a third successive season. Between 2007, when he became a regular on defence, and 2014, Montreal never missed postseason play. They reached the Grey Cup three straight years, starting in 2008, winning two championships.
Bowman said he promised owner Robert Wetenhall the team was going to improve, and that he wanted to be a part of the transformation.
“At the end of the season, that’s why I was tearing up. I promised him. I let him down,” Bowman said. “I still have a little fire left. I don’t want to walk away knowing I still could have contributed.
“I just want to win.” Losing takes it toll and tests a player’s mettle. Bowman won’t disagree with that assessment. He referred to Anthony Calvillo, the Als’ former offensive coordinator, so frustrated and beat-up he decided to quit and take a year off coaching — until Toronto’s Marc Trestman came calling, offering him a position as the Argonauts’ quarterbacks coach.
“It was blowouts every week,” Bowman said of the Als’ implosion. “It’s tough. It’s been a tough sled. It wasn’t just the 11 games. We were losing by an average 20 points. We (used to make) the playoffs every year, winning 10 games, to whatever it has become. We just need consistency.
“When I first came into the league Calgary was 3-15 ... 4-14. I’ve watched every team go up and down. This has been our down period. Hopefully this thing gets righted soon.”
But Bowman wants one thing perfectly clear: Don’t feel sorry for him and what he has had to endure of late. The native of Brooklyn, N.Y., experienced far tougher hardships in life, he tells anyone who will listen. One of eight children, he saw his mother and her twin sister battle drug addiction.
“I’m from the gutter,” he said. “For me, playing football’s easy. I just have to work out and get ready for it. It’s nothing. People say we’re going through tough situations. I just want to win. In life, I’ve already achieved so much.
“In 2006, did you think you’d be standing in front of me now, talking about 120 sacks?”
Bowman won’t make any bold predictions. He hopes general manager Kavis Reed has made the necessary off-season moves, overhauling the defence with the signings of backs Tommie Campbell, Joe Burnett and Mitchell White, along with rush-end Jamaal Westerman.
Then again, only last winter, Reed addressed the obvious offensive concerns, trading for quarterback Darian Durant, signing receiver Ernest Jackson as a free agent and bolstering the line. Sometimes, things simply don’t pan out, Bowman said.
“We were a bad team,” he said. “Hopefully we can become a better team.”
Certainly Bowman will sail off into the sunset following the 2018 campaign, right? He laughs heartily when the scenario is broached, offering no hints.
“I have to make the team first,” he claimed, as he has going into every camp. “That’s my mantra. I go to training camp and have to fight for my job.”