Brent Michael Bowden (born May 21, 1987) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

punter. He was selected by the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

in the sixth round of the

2010 NFL draft The 2010 NFL draft was the 75th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The 2010 NFL draft, draft took place over three days, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, with the first ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Virginia Tech The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

. Bowden was also a member of the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...

and

Virginia Destroyers The Virginia Destroyers were a professional American football team based in Virginia Beach, Virginia. They began play in the United Football League (UFL) in the 2011 season. They played their home games at the Virginia Beach Sportsplex. The t ...

Early life

Bowden was born on May 21, 1987, in

Huntsville, Alabama Huntsville is the List of municipalities in Alabama, most populous city in the U.S. state of Alabama. The population of the city is estimated to be 241,114 in 2024, making it the List of United States cities by population, 100th-most populous ...

, to Tim and Denise Bowden. His older brother, Chris Hall, was a punter for the

Florida State Seminoles The Florida State Seminoles are the athletic teams representing Florida State University (FSU) located in Tallahassee, Florida. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I, prima ...

. His younger brother, Grant, is currently a punter at Liberty University. He attended Westfield High School in

Fairfax County, Virginia Fairfax County, officially the County of Fairfax, is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. With a population of 1,150,309 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the most p ...

, where he lettered in

as a punter. In 2003, his junior year, he averaged 40 yards per punt, with a net average of 38 yards, and a long of 64 yards. He had seven punts that were downed inside the 20-yard line and 11 punts that were fair caught. In 2004, his senior year, he had 29 punts for an average of 44 yards and a net average of 37 yards. His longest punt was 58 yards and he had 16 of his punts downed inside the 20-yard line, nine downed inside the 10-yard line and five inside the 5-yard line. Eight of his punts were

fair catch A fair catch is a feature of American football and several other codes of football, in which a player attempting to catch a ball kicked by the opposing team – either on a kickoff or punt – is entitled to catch the ball without interference ...

es. He earned ''

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'' and Virginia High School Coaches Association first-team all-state honors after his senior season. He was named first-team All-Concorde District, All-Northern Region and ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' All-Met. Scout.com ranked him as high as the fourth-best high school punter in the nation at one point.

College career

2005 season

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, Bowden was

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

and served as the backup punter behind Nic Schmitt. He dressed for all 13 games, but did not see any playing time. In the Maroon-White spring scrimmage, he punted three times for an average of 44.7 yards, a long of 48 yards and had one punt downed inside the 20-yard line.

2006 season

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

, Bowden dressed for every game in the season, but, like the previous season, did not play in any of them. He was the backup to Schmitt again at punter and was the backup holder on kicks.

2007 season

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, Bowden became the starting punter for the Hokies after Nic Schmitt graduated. In the season-opener against

East Carolina East Carolina University (ECU) is a public university in Greenville, North Carolina, United States. It is the List of universities in North Carolina by enrollment, fourth largest university in North Carolina and the only one in the state with s ...

, Bowden punted six times for an average of 42.3 yards per punt. He had a long of 52, and four of his punts landed inside the 20-yard line. Against

LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

, Bowden punted eight times for an average of 40.1 yards per punt with four punts downed inside the 20-yard line. He had a long of 44. Against

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, Bowden punted seven times for an average of 41.3 yards per punt, with three landing inside the 20-yard line. He had one punt that landed in the endzone for a touchback, and he had a long of 47. In the September 22 game against William & Mary, Bowden punted eight times for an average of 43.1 yards per punt. He had a long of 52 and had three punts landed inside the 20-yard line and one go into the endzone for a touchback. Against

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

, Bowden had seven punts for 302 yards and a 43.1 average, with one punt going 59 yards. He had one touchback and two punts that landed inside the 20-yard line. Against Clemson on October 6, Bowden punted eight times for a 46.4 average yards per punt. Two punts landed inside the 20-yard line and three were touchbacks. In the October 25 game against

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

, Bowden punted eight times for a 39.4 average with one touchback and three punts that landed inside the 20-yard line. Against

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...

, Bowden punted seven times for a 47.1 average and a punt that went 54 yards. Against the

Virginia Cavaliers The Virginia Cavaliers, also known as Wahoos or Hoos, are the athletic teams representing the University of Virginia, located in Charlottesville. The Cavaliers compete at the NCAA Division I level ( FBS for football), in the Atlantic Coast C ...

, Bowden punted four times for an average of 48.3 yards per punt with one punt that went 57 yards. In the ACC Championship Game against Boston College, Bowden punted seven times for a 46.3 punting average with two touchbacks, one punt that landed inside the 20-yard line and one punt that went 54 yards. For 2007 Bowden started and played in all 14 games (including ACC Championship and Bowl Game) and tied the VT record for most punts in a year with 87 (42.6 gross, 36.8 net) while Dunlevy had 1 punt, totaling 88 VT punts for the year (70 field punts 43.6 avg and 18 pooch punts 38.2). Of the 88 punts 33 (37% of kicks) were punted Inside the 20 (I20) with 28 downed I20, 22 fair catches, 27 returns (207 yds), 6 out-of-bounds, and longest 59 yds. Bowden held for all FGs and PATs,

2008 season

For 2008 Bowden started and played all 14 games (including ACC Championship and Bowl Game) with 69 punts with a gross average of 40.4 yds. Bowden, as a directional punter, had 55 field punts averaging 42.2 yards while the 14 pooch punts averaged 33.2 yds, kicking from as close as the 35 yd line. He punted 27 (39% of kicks) I20 with 24 downed I20, 23 returns (259 yds), 11 Fair Catches, 6 touchbacks, 11 out of bounds, and longest 57 yds. He held for all FGs and PATs. He played the year with a back strain.

2009 season

For 2009 Bowden started and played in all 13 games with 57 punts, 43.65 gross (46.4 field, 37.3 pooch), 37.2 net, punted 21 I20 (36.8%), 20 downed I20 (36.1%), 13 fair catches (22.8%), 20 returns (172 yds), 10 out of bounds, and longest 60 yds. Bowden was named the first-team All-ACC punter for 2009 with a 43.8 gross average. College career started and played 41 games in a row as punter and holder, 214 punts (170 field, 44 pooch), 9015 yards, 42.13 gross (43.62 field, 36.34 pooch), 36.88 net, 81 punted I20 (37.9%) and 72 downed I20 (33.65%), 70 returns (466 yds), and 46 fair catches (21.5%). Bowden played in the

Texas vs. The Nation Game Texas vs The Nation was an American college football all-star bowl game played from 2007 to 2013. Originally played at the Sun Bowl Stadium, the format of the game pitted 50 top-rated college seniors who played college or high school football in ...

on February 6, 2010, averaging over 50 yards on 8 punts.

Professional career

Pre-draft

Bowden was ranked as the second-best punter in the

by NFLDraftScout.com, and was projected to be selected in the seventh round. He was invited to participate in the 2010

NFL Scouting Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Foot ...

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Bowden was selected by the

in the sixth round (172nd overall) of the

. He was signed to a four-year contract on June 16, 2010. He was released on September 6 to make room for

Chris Bryan Chris Bryan (born 6 March 1982) is a former sportsman who played both Australian rules football and American football professionally. Bryan played in the Australian Football League (AFL) from 2005 until 2009, and then in the National Football Le ...

. Bowden was re-signed to the team's

practice squad In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

on September 8, but was released on September 14.

Jacksonville Jaguars

On August 13, 2011, Bowden signed with the

. He was waived on August 25.

Virginia Destroyers

Brent signed with the Virginia Destroyers September 2012. In the first game against Las Vegas he averaged 48.5 yards on 4 punts with two inside the 20-yard line.

References

External links

Tampa Bay Buccaneers bio

NFLDraftScout.com profile

Scout.com High School profile

Rivals.com profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bowden, Brent 1987 births Living people Players of American football from Virginia American football punters Jacksonville Jaguars players Players of American football from Huntsville, Alabama Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Virginia Tech Hokies football players Virginia Destroyers players