Back to the Top News Newsfeed

‘I’ll Always Be the Guy Taken Right Before Tom Brady’

Related Topics: Tom Brady, Mike Martz, 2000 NFL draft

Matt Bowen is right about that. But the former NFL safety’s career is intertwined with the legendary QB’s in more ways than one

CHICAGO — Matt Bowen spent the second day of the 2000 NFL draft at his childhood home in Glen Ellyn, a Chicago suburb. The long, drawn-out wait of a late-round pick is a common tale, and while the details vary they all involve an overwhelming amount of stress. For Bowen, a defensive back from Iowa, the third round flipped to the fourth, then the fifth. He fielded calls from the Cowboys and Steelers, who passed on him again, then again.