Tampa Bay Buccaneer’s head coach Todd Bowles received a standing ovation from the graduating class at Mt. St. Mary University.
The reason? Bowles returned to college to finish his degree as a promise he made to his ailing mother before she passed away in 2009.
Bowles, 59, procured his bachelor of science degree in youth and community development at the school in Emmitsburg, Maryland, more than 37 years after leaving Temple University to go into the NFL.
“This is an amazing, amazing thing for me to be in a class with you,” he told the students. “I’m more nervous now than I ever was [when] speaking in a locker room at halftime.”
Bowles, who gave the commencement speech, told the graduating class that his mother did not cast aspersions on him when decided to leave school and enter the NFL Draft in 1986. He signed on as an undrafted free agent with the then-Washington Redskins — now called the Washington Commanders — and played for eight seasons, according to ESPN. From there, Bowles joined the staff of the Green Bay Packers in 1995 before beginning his head coaching career at Morehouse in 1997.
Bowles returned to the NFL in various coaching capacities in 2000 and became a head coach with the Jets in 2015 and is now the head coach with the Buccaneers.
But when his mother was afflicted with cancer and the end was near, she made him make a promise to finish his education.
“I didn’t get my degree, and my mother never said anything,” Bowles told the audience. “She just went with it. And she let me go ahead and live my life. And she passed in 2009, and the only thing she asked of me was to make sure I got my degree.
“I stuck with it, and here I am at 59. You’re never too old to stop learning. You stop learning and you get old. You get old when you stop learning. So I say to you, Class of 2023 — the future is yours, take it, grab it, run with it, be excited, … every now and then, come back and thank your parents.”
Just as important as honoring his mother, Bowles also wants to be an inspiration for his children. His son, Todd Bowles Jr., is a defensive back at Rutgers University, while his second son, Troy, has just graduated from high school in Tampa and is headed to the University of Georgia on a scholarship. He has a third son who is in the 6th grade.
