Stephen Bowen Biography, From Undrafted to NFL Starter and the Story Behind His Greatest Courage

Some athletes are remembered for the moments they made on the field. Stephen Bowen will be remembered for how he showed up off it.

His Stephen Bowen biography is not simply the story of a defensive end who played ten seasons in the NFL, earned a multi-million dollar contract, and helped a team win a division title. It’s the story of a man who got the worst phone call imaginable on what should have been one of the best days of his life — and then went out and played sixteen games, recorded career highs, and channeled unspeakable grief into something that has helped hundreds of families since.

He was undrafted. He got cut before his first season officially started. He had to fight for every snap on a practice squad. And yet Stephen Bowen became a team captain, a starter on a championship squad, and one of the most quietly inspiring figures in modern NFL history.

Who Is Stephen Bowen? A Quick Overview

Stephen Alexander Bowen Jr. is a former professional football player who played defensive end in the National Football League from 2006 to 2015. Born on March 28, 1984, in Holly Ridge, North Carolina, he grew up on Long Island, New York, and played college football at Hofstra University. He went undrafted in the 2006 NFL Draft before signing with the Dallas Cowboys and spending a decade playing for three franchises: the Cowboys, the Washington Redskins, and the New York Jets.

In 128 career games, he recorded 175 tackles, 12.5 sacks, and nine passes defensed. But his career statistics barely capture his full story. He’s equally known for founding the Skyler’s Gift Foundation — a charity born from the most painful moment of his life — and for winning the Ed Block Courage Award in 2011, voted by his own teammates.

Early Life — Growing Up on Long Island

Roots in North Carolina and North Babylon, New York

Stephen Bowen was born in Holly Ridge, North Carolina, but his formative years were spent in the suburbs of Long Island, New York. He first put on a football helmet at age seven, playing for the Baldwin Bombers in pee-wee football. Between ages eight and ten, he played for the Roosevelt Rough Riders before eventually landing in North Babylon, where his love for the game deepened under the most direct possible influence.

A Father Who Coached Him Through the Early Years

Stephen Bowen’s father, Stephen Bowen Sr., wasn’t just a dad in the bleachers. He was on the sidelines as his son’s coach for many of those North Babylon years. That kind of proximity — a father shaping his son’s athletic foundation from close range — leaves a mark. It built not just technique, but a certain kind of discipline, the understanding that football was something you could take seriously even before it counted for anything.

Half Hollow Hills High School West — A Two-Sport Standout

Bowen attended Half Hollow Hills High School West in Dix Hills, New York, where he was far more than a one-dimensional prospect. He lettered in both football and basketball. In football, he played as a two-way player — running back and linebacker — which meant he was asked to contribute on both sides of the ball. As a senior, he put up numbers that showed his versatility: 235 rushing yards, four rushing touchdowns, 330 receiving yards, five receiving touchdowns, and a staggering 97 tackles.

That kind of production gets you noticed. It also signals something about how a player was developed — he wasn’t siloed into a single skill set. He understood the game from multiple angles.

College Career at Hofstra University

Why Hofstra? The Scholarship That Changed His Life

Attending college was always important to the Bowen family — but it wasn’t going to be free. Stephen Bowen Sr. made it clear to his son that if football didn’t pay for higher education, student loans would. That reality sharpened young Stephen’s focus. He earned a scholarship to Hofstra University on Long Island, a Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) program playing in the Atlantic 10 Conference. It wasn’t a football factory. But it was a scholarship, and it was a genuine pathway.

The Switch to Defensive End — A Position He’d Never Played

When Bowen arrived at Hofstra, coaches looked at his strength, size, and agility and saw something different from what he’d been doing in high school. They moved him to defensive end — a position he had never lined up at in his life. That kind of transition could derail a player. For Bowen, it launched one.

He learned on the fly, combining the raw athleticism he’d developed as a running back and linebacker with the new techniques coaches taught him. By his sophomore year, he had moved into a starting role and never looked back.

Four Years on the Pride — Stats and Achievements

Bowen was a four-year letterman and eventually a three-year starter at Hofstra. His career numbers tell the story of steady development:

• Freshman year: Limited action, building his foundation at a new position
• Sophomore year: 49 tackles, three sacks, one fumble recovery
• Junior year: Career-high 68 tackles (fourth on the team), 7.5 tackles for loss, three sacks, nine tackles alone against the University of New Hampshire
• Senior year: 48 tackles (11 for loss), 5.5 sacks, one interception returned for a 31-yard touchdown

He finished his Hofstra career with 168 tackles and 11.5 sacks and was named to the All-Atlantic 10 Second Team as a senior. He also graduated with a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies in 2006 — education was never an afterthought.

Setting the Stage for an NFL Pro Day

NFL scouts came to Hofstra not only for Bowen but also to look at fellow future pros Willie Colon and Marques Colston. Finding NFL-caliber talent from an FCS program isn’t common, but Bowen’s pro day performance put him squarely on the radar. Projections had him going somewhere between rounds five and seven of the draft. What happened next would test his resilience before his professional career had even officially begun.

Going Undrafted in 2006 — The Decision That Defined His Career

The Phone Call That Changed Everything

Draft day, 2006. Bowen sat with his family, watching rounds pass without his name being called. All seven rounds came and went. Undrafted.

And then the phone rang.

The Dallas Cowboys were interested. That call, which Bowen later described as one that “would change my life forever,” opened a door he would refuse to let close. He wasn’t drafted — but he got to choose his landing spot. That’s the overlooked upside of going undrafted: instead of being placed by a team that might be stacked at your position, you become a free agent and can evaluate where opportunity actually exists.

Why Being Undrafted Turned Into an Advantage

With the Cowboys, Bowen wasn’t walking into a loaded depth chart at defensive end. He had a genuine shot to compete. He signed on May 1, 2006, and immediately began the fight to prove he deserved to be there.

“In hindsight, it was a blessing in disguise,” he would later reflect. And he was right.

Signing With the Dallas Cowboys and Surviving the Roster Wars

The Dallas Cowboys training camp of 2006 was a gauntlet. Head coach Bill Parcells ran a program that had no patience for players who didn’t show up ready to compete. On the first day, conditioning tests. The next day, ten cuts. Bowen watched players disappear and understood exactly what was at stake.

He threw himself into film study and playbook memorization. As an undrafted player, he knew that coaches would always have an excuse to move on from him — drafted players carry an implied investment that undrafted ones don’t. He had to work twice as hard just to receive equal consideration.

Stephen Bowen’s Career With the Dallas Cowboys (2006–2010)

Surviving Bill Parcells’ Cuts and Making the Active Roster

Bowen was cut when final rosters were set on September 2 and moved to the Cowboys’ practice squad two days later. On November 8, the team promoted him to the active roster. His 2006 season consisted of a single game appearance — a season-ending loss to the Detroit Lions — but it was meaningful. In that game, he recorded his first career NFL sack, getting to quarterback Jon Kitna. The seed was planted.

First Career Sack and the Friendship With Jason Hatcher

At training camp, Bowen was assigned a roommate: Jason Hatcher, a third-round pick who also played defensive end. In a business where relationships are often temporary, their friendship proved lasting. The two became best friends over the course of their careers — a bond that Bowen has spoken about with genuine warmth and gratitude. In professional sports, finding someone in the trenches who has your back matters enormously.

Five Seasons of Building His NFL Foundation

From 2007 to 2010, Bowen steadily grew within the Cowboys organization:

• 2007: Served as backup to starting right defensive end Chris Canty; recorded 23 tackles and nine quarterback pressures
• 2008: Appeared in 14 games, posting a then career-best 28 tackles and nine more quarterback pressures
• 2009: Appeared in all 16 games with two starts; registered 31 tackles, three sacks, and 33 quarterback pressures (tied for third on the team)
• 2010: Appeared in all 16 games, starting nine in place of an injured Marcus Spears, finishing with 25 tackles and 12 quarterback pressures

His reputation within the organization was quietly growing. He was reliable, consistent, and dangerous when given opportunities. By his fifth season, he’d proven he belonged in the league. What he needed now was a chance to start.

Growing Into a Full-Time Starter in Dallas

By 2010, Bowen had shown enough that when Marcus Spears went down with injury, the Cowboys turned to him to fill the void. Starting nine games gave him something he’d never had before: sustained opportunities to dictate a game from the defensive line. He took full advantage.

The Move to Washington — Stephen Bowen’s Best Years

The $27.5 Million Contract and What It Represented

On July 28, 2011, the Washington Redskins signed Bowen to a five-year, $27.5 million contract, making him a starting right defensive end in their 3-4 defensive scheme. For a player who had been cut before his first professional season and spent years grinding on a practice squad, this contract was validation of everything he’d built over five years in Dallas.

It was a career-defining moment. It was also, in a cosmic twist of timing, one of the most emotionally complex days of his life.

The Day His Twin Sons Were Born Prematurely — June 28, 2011

The very same day Stephen Bowen signed his contract with the Washington Redskins — June 28, 2011 — his wife Tiffany underwent an emergency C-section at just 24 weeks of pregnancy. Their twin boys, Stephen III and Skyler, entered the world weighing 1 pound 6 ounces and 1 pound 7 ounces respectively. Their father, who weighed more than 300 pounds, held them in his hands.

At 24 weeks gestation, only 39 percent of babies survive. The Bowen family had twin boys fighting for their lives in a NICU on the same day their father signed the biggest contract of his professional career.

Ten days later, on July 8, 2011, Skyler Bowen died from complications of premature birth. He was ten days old.

Playing Through Unimaginable Grief in His First Redskins Season

In that same 2011 season, just months after losing Skyler, Bowen’s mother-in-law Muriel Johnson also passed away. In the span of a few months, he had buried his infant son and his wife’s mother, started a new job on a new team in a new city, and was expected to perform at the highest level of professional football every single week.

He didn’t just show up. He excelled.

Career-High Six Sacks and the Ed Block Courage Award

In 2011, Bowen started all 16 games for the first time in his NFL career and set new career highs across the board:

• 41 tackles
• Six sacks (half his career total in a single season)
• Diagnosed with a third-degree PCL tear in November — and still finished out the season

On December 8, 2011, his teammates voted him the Redskins’ recipient of the Ed Block Courage Award. The award goes to the player who demonstrates remarkable courage in the face of adversity. The vote was essentially unanimous in its intention — here was a man who had endured the unendurable and chosen to fight anyway.

The 2012 NFC East Championship Season and His Role as Team Captain

The 2012 season was Bowen’s finest team achievement. The Washington Redskins won the NFC East division title, and Bowen wasn’t just a player on that team — he was elected by his teammates as co-defensive captain. Being voted a captain by the people who practice with you every day, who see you in the film room, who know exactly what you’ve been through — that’s an honor no front office can manufacture.

He set new personal milestones that season, registering 51 tackles (31 solo), 32 quarterback pressures, three passes defensed, and one sack.

The Nick Foles Moment — One Play That Won a Game

During a crucial late-season matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles in 2012, the Redskins were leading but the Eagles had the ball with seconds remaining and a chance to tie the game. On that final play, Bowen applied enough pressure to quarterback Nick Foles to force him to throw the ball into the turf prematurely. The intentional grounding penalty ended the game on the last play. Washington won. That one moment of pass-rush execution, under pressure when it mattered most, is exactly the kind of play that defines a career.

The Injury Years (2013–2014) — Two PCL Tears and a Bicep Tear

The 2013 and 2014 seasons tested Bowen in a different way. In the Week 7 win against the Chicago Bears in 2013, he tore his right PCL. He continued playing through it until a Week 11 loss to the Eagles made it impossible to continue. He underwent microfracture surgery — one of the most serious and recovery-intensive procedures in orthopedic medicine — and finished with just 19 tackles.

In 2013, he’d also torn his upper left bicep during the regular season — and still played through the remainder of that year.

These weren’t minor inconveniences. They were career-threatening injuries that would have ended lesser players’ seasons — and yet Bowen pushed through each time, driven by the same mentality that had kept him in the league from the beginning.

Final Season With the New York Jets (2015)

On March 24, 2015, after being released by the Redskins, Bowen signed with the New York Jets. It was a reunion of sorts — the Jets’ new head coach was Todd Bowles, who had been a Dallas Cowboys assistant coach during Bowen’s time there. That familiarity brought comfort to what proved to be a transitional year.

Bowen appeared in 15 games for the Jets as a reserve, with one start, contributing in a supporting role. It was clear his body wasn’t what it once was, but his football intelligence and professionalism remained assets to the team.

Retirement in 2016 — Signing Off the Right Way

Why He Chose to Retire as a Redskin

On June 1, 2016, Stephen Bowen announced his retirement from the NFL at age 32. But he didn’t just issue a press release. He signed a one-day contract with the Washington Redskins to make his retirement official as a member of the organization he’d called home for his best years.

That gesture said everything. Despite being born in North Carolina, growing up in New York, spending five years in Dallas, playing in New Jersey, the Washington organization was where he found his football family. The players who voted him a captain. The city where he faced the hardest moments of his life and the teammates who helped carry him through.

What He Said About His 10-Year Career

At his retirement press conference, Bowen spoke with the measured clarity of someone who had truly processed what the game had given him.

“I started playing football at the age of 7,” he said. “Since then, it has been my outlet, my place of comfort, and it has brought me great joy. Ten years is a long time.”

It is. And for an undrafted free agent from an FCS school who got cut before his first season officially started, ten years in the NFL is a remarkable achievement by any measure.

He finished his career with:

• 128 games played (57 starts)
• 175 tackles (103 solo, 25 for loss)
• 12.5 sacks
• Nine passes defensed
• One forced fumble
• One fumble recovery

Skyler’s Gift Foundation — Turning Personal Tragedy Into Purpose

The Story of Skyler Bowen

Skyler Bowen lived for ten days. He was born at 24 weeks gestation, weighing just 1 pound 7 ounces. His father held him in hands large enough to palm a football. His mother, Tiffany, described leaving his body at the hospital as almost too much to bear.

Stephen and Tiffany Bowen held Skyler together until his heart stopped.

That kind of loss doesn’t resolve itself. It doesn’t get processed and filed away. It stays with you every single day. For the Bowens, the question became: what do you do with grief this enormous?

What the Foundation Does and Who It Helps

The answer was Skyler’s Gift Foundation. Stephen and Tiffany created the organization to provide financial support to families who have lost newborn infants from complications of premature birth. The foundation’s work covers:

• Mortuary and burial costs for families who cannot afford them
• Grief counseling for bereaved parents and siblings
• Support groups for families navigating premature loss
• Educational materials for families and the broader public
• Funding for ongoing research into preventing premature births and infant deaths

The foundation’s core belief is simple and humane: no one should have to face this kind of loss alone, and no family should be unable to properly mourn and bury a child because of financial constraints. As Bowen himself said: “I met people who also lost a baby and some of them could not afford a funeral.”

The Community Impact of Skyler’s Gift

Skyler’s Gift Foundation has become the most enduring part of Stephen Bowen’s legacy. In an era where athlete charities are sometimes little more than marketing, the Bowen foundation is personal in the truest sense — it exists because of something real and devastating that happened to this family, and it serves people experiencing that same devastation every day.

The fact that Tiffany Bowen — who holds a master’s degree and was pursuing her MBA — became the driving operational force behind the foundation speaks to the seriousness of the commitment. This wasn’t a press release. It was a life’s work.

Honors and Recognition Beyond the Game

Inducted Into the Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame (2018)

In 2018, Stephen Bowen was inducted into the Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame in the American football category with the Class of 2018. Suffolk County, Long Island, is where he grew up, where his father coached him in youth football, and where he first fell in love with the game. Being recognized by the community that shaped him carries a particular kind of meaning.

Inducted Into the Hofstra Athletics Hall of Fame (2024)

In 2024, Hofstra University inducted Bowen into its Athletics Hall of Fame — recognition of a career that began at the university, where he transformed from a two-way high school player into one of the most productive defensive ends in Hofstra football history.

The honor acknowledges something important: that what Bowen accomplished in the NFL didn’t happen despite Hofstra, but partly because of it. The coaches who saw his potential and moved him to defensive end. The competition within the Atlantic 10. The pro day that got NFL scouts to Long Island in the first place.

Personal Life — Family, Values, and What He Stands For

Stephen Bowen married his college girlfriend Tiffany Johnson in March 2008. The couple have three children: their daughter Trinity, and their twin boys Stephen III and Skyler. Their son Skyler passed away in 2011. Despite the heartbreak of that loss, the family channeled their pain into advocacy and community service through Skyler’s Gift Foundation.

Bowen has spoken about the Washington Redskins organization as feeling like home — not just because of the football, but because of the human support he received during the hardest period of his life. The teammates who embraced him, the community that showed up for his family, and the organization that gave him a platform to honor his son’s memory.

His best friend in football remains Jason Hatcher, the defensive end he roomed with at his very first Cowboys training camp in 2006. Some friendships are forged in competition and hardship, and those tend to last.

After retiring, Bowen returned to New York, as he said he would, to make his permanent home near the place where he grew up.

Stephen Bowen Career Stats at a Glance

Stephen Bowen Quick Facts

Frequently Asked Questions About Stephen Bowen

Who is Stephen Bowen?

Stephen Bowen is a former NFL defensive end who played ten seasons in the National Football League from 2006 to 2015. He played for the Dallas Cowboys, Washington Redskins, and New York Jets. He entered the league as an undrafted free agent out of Hofstra University and rose to become a team captain and starter. He is also the co-founder of Skyler’s Gift Foundation, a charity that supports families who have lost infants due to premature birth complications.

What teams did Stephen Bowen play for?

Stephen Bowen played for three NFL teams during his professional career: the Dallas Cowboys from 2006 to 2010, the Washington Redskins from 2011 to 2014, and the New York Jets in 2015. He had his best statistical and professional success with the Redskins, earning a team captaincy and winning the NFC East title in 2012.

What happened to Stephen Bowen’s son Skyler?

On June 28, 2011 — the same day Bowen signed his five-year, $27.5 million contract with the Washington Redskins — his wife Tiffany gave birth to twin boys, Stephen III and Skyler, at just 24 weeks of pregnancy. Both boys were severely premature. Ten days later, on July 8, 2011, Skyler Bowen passed away from complications related to premature birth. He was ten days old. In Skyler’s memory, the Bowens founded the Skyler’s Gift Foundation.

What is Skyler’s Gift Foundation?

Skyler’s Gift Foundation is a nonprofit organization co-founded by Stephen and Tiffany Bowen in honor of their late son Skyler. The foundation provides financial support to families who have lost newborn infants from complications of premature birth. Its services include covering mortuary and burial costs, grief counseling, support groups, and educational resources. The foundation also funds research aimed at preventing premature births and raising awareness about prematurity.

Did Stephen Bowen win any NFL awards?

Yes. In 2011, his first season with the Washington Redskins, Stephen Bowen was voted by his teammates as the Redskins’ recipient of the Ed Block Courage Award. The award recognizes a player who demonstrates exceptional courage in the face of personal adversity and outstanding performance on the field. Bowen received it for setting career highs in tackles and sacks while simultaneously dealing with the deaths of his infant son Skyler and his mother-in-law Muriel Johnson.

How many sacks did Stephen Bowen have in his career?

Stephen Bowen recorded 12.5 sacks during his 10-year NFL career across 128 games. His single best season came in 2011 with the Washington Redskins, when he recorded six sacks — nearly half his career total — while also playing through a third-degree PCL tear.

Why did Stephen Bowen retire with the Washington Redskins?

When Stephen Bowen announced his retirement on June 1, 2016, he signed a one-day contract with the Washington Redskins to officially retire as a member of that organization. Though he spent his final season with the New York Jets, Bowen has consistently described the Redskins organization as his football home — the place where he experienced his greatest professional success, faced his deepest personal tragedies, and was embraced by teammates and an organization that supported him through it all.