Tim Bowens is a former American Football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 defensive tackle, was chosen with the 20th pick of the NFL draft by the Miami Dolphins

Miami Dolphins

The Miami Dolphins are a Professional football team based in the Miami metropolitan area in Florida. The team is part of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

. The Dolphins received some initial criticism for the pick, because he was overweight and had only played 9 gamed in his college career at Mississippi. In his rookie year in 1994, Bowens was named The NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year

NFL Rookie of the Year Award

Since 1967, the Associated Press has given two annual Rookie of the Year Awards to National Football League players: one for an offensive player and one for a defensive player. These two are often regarded as the "official" awards...

 by the Associated Press

Associated Press

The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...

. He played with the Miami dolphins for 12 years before he retired after the 2004 NFL season

2004 NFL season

The 2004 NFL season was the 85th regular season of the National Football League.With the New England Patriots as the defending league champions, regular season play was held from September 9, 2004 to January 2, 2005...

 after back injuries took their toll.

High school career

At Okolona High School

Okolona High School

Okolona High School is a public high school located in Okolona, Mississippi . It serves grades 9 - 12. It is part of the Okolona Municipal Separate School District. The school nickname is "The Chieftains". They boast athletic teams in track, tennis, football, baseball, softball, and basketball. ...

 in Okolona, Mississippi

Okolona, Mississippi

Okolona is a city in and one of the county seats of Chickasaw County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 3,056 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Okolona is located at ....

, Tim Bowens was an All-State pick as a senior and an All-District pick as a junior and senior. As a senior,
he led his team to the Class AA semifinals and an 11-2 record. He was also a two-year letter winner in basketball.
A freak lawnmower accident in school left him without three toes on his left foot; however, it did not hinder his performance.