Dwayne Bowe

Dwayne Lorenzo Bowe (born September 21, 1984 in Miami, Florida) is an American football wide receiver for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Chiefs 23rd overall in the 2007 NFL Draft. He played college football at Louisiana State.

Early years
Born to an unwed mother and a largely absent father, Dwayne Bowe and his older brother Wayne were raised by their paternal grandparents, KW and Dorothy Williams in Miami, Florida. At Parkway Middle school, Bowe struggled with academics and was involved with street gangs and fighting. He grew into a big, athletic teenager but was not involved in sports until his junior year in high school, when he was hospitalized after being beaten badly in a nightclub fight. As a way to give up fighting, Dwayne decided to join the high school football team at Miami Norland High School. In his very first game, he returned a kickoff 101 yards for a touchdown. Later, Bowe accepted an offer from Nick Saban to play for Louisiana State University on an athletic scholarship.

2007 NFL Draft
Regarded as one of the top wide receivers available in the 2007 NFL Draft, Bowe drew comparisons to Hines Ward. He was selected 23rd overall by the Kansas City Chiefs. Alongside his former teammates JaMarcus Russell and Craig Davis, the trio became the first quarterback/wide receiving group to be selected in the first round of the draft.

2007
On August 5, 2007, Bowe signed a five-year contract with the Chiefs, after holding out the first week of practice at training camp.

Bowe scored his first NFL touchdown on a pass from Damon Huard in the first half of the Chiefs' game against the Chicago Bears on September 16, 2007.

In his rookie season, Bowe led all first-year receivers in receptions (70), yards (995), and touchdowns (6). His reception and yardage totals set franchise records for Chiefs' rookie receivers. Bowe also set the team's single-game rookie receiving record with 164 yards against the San Diego Chargers on September 30, 2007. Bowe was in contention for the Rookie of the Year Award for his performance in 2007 (the award was eventually given to Minnesota Vikings halfback Adrian Peterson).

2008
In the Chiefs first game of the 2008 season, Bowe recorded five receptions for forty–nine yards, but he also dropped 4 passes, including a game–tying catch in the endzone on first and goal. He went on to obtain 1,022 yards receiving and ended the season 10th in the NFL with 86 receptions. In his last game of the 2008 season Bowe gained 103 yards with 10 receptions.

2009
Playing with new quarterback Matt Cassel, Bowe finished the season with 589 receiving yards and 4 touchdowns in 11 games. On November 17, 2009, Bowe was suspended for 4 games for an NFL drug violation. He had taken a diuretic, which can be used as a masking agent to disguise anabolic steroid use.

2010
Bowe got off to a slow start in Chiefs' 2010 campaign,catching only 9 passes in the team's first 4 games. In the Chiefs' fourth game against the Indianapolis Colts, Bowe dropped crucial passes including one in the endzone which would have given them the lead, as the Chiefs' got their first loss 9-19. On October 17, 2010, Bowe caught 6 passes for 108 yards and 2 touchdowns against the Houston Texans in a game that the Chiefs lost 31-35. The following week was prolific for Bowe once again, as he hauled in 3 receptions for 81 yards and 2 TD's in a 42-20 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. In Week 8 against the Buffalo Bills he caught 3 passes for only 16 yards but again found the endzone, helping his team win against the Buffalo Bills, 13-10. In Week 9's match-up with the Oakland Raiders he caught 5 passes for 63 yards, adding another touchdown as well. The Chiefs went on to lose the game in overtime, 20-23. On November 14, 2010, almost a year after his drug suspension, Bowe set new career-highs for receptions and receiving yards in a single game versus the Denver Broncos. As the Broncos took a 35-0 lead, the Chiefs were forced to air it out. Bowe was targeted 18 times and caught 13 passes for 186 yards. He had 2 touchdowns as well. That was Bowe's fifth straight game with a touchdown reception. The Chiefs lost the game, 29-49. In Week 11, against the struggling Arizona Cardinals Bowe extended his streak to six straight games with a touchdown, this time coming up with 2. That set a team record for most games with a TD catch. He finished the game with 6 receptions for 109 yards and helped his team en route to a 31-13 win. The following week, in the first half against the Seattle Seahawks Bowe caught 8 passes while gaining 120 yards. Two of the receptions went for touchdowns. In the second half he added five more receptions, including his third touchdown of the game. He extended his streak to 7 straight games with a score, thus breaking the Kansas City Chiefs franchise record of 6 straight games with a touchdown. Bowe also broke the Chiefs' franchise record for most touchdowns in a single season during the game against the Seattle Seahawks in week 12. He was invited to the 2011 Pro Bowl.

2012
On March 5, 2012, the Chiefs placed a non-exclusive franchise tag on Bowe.

Personal
As revealed in an episode of the HBO series Hard Knocks: Training Camp With The Kansas City Chiefs, Bowe is a relative of Bobby Sippio, who was also with the Chiefs at the time. Bowe is also the cousin of NFL player Ali Highsmith who is currently a free agent.