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Andre Bowden Fullback/Linebacker
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| Photo by Chris Arnold |
Height: 6-2
Weight: 249
Date of Birth: 4/4/68
College: Fayetteville State
Year-by-Year:
1991: Played in the Storm's first-ever game vs. Orlando (6/1) but recorded no offensive stats...Broke up two passes, blocked a kick and made a tackle in the win at Columbus (6/8)...Moved from TE to FB/LB after four weeks, and promptly turned into a force, scoring three touchdowns in the Storm's comeback 57-53 win over Albany (6/29)...Finished third on the team in rushing with 110 yards and was seventh with 18 tackles in role backing up Lynn Bradford and Bo Wright.1992: Stepped into the role at starting FB/LB that opened when Lynn Bradford suffered a career-ending back injury...Led the Storm with 134 yards rushing and six rushing touchdowns...Also led the club with six sacks...Intercepted a pass on defense and caught two passes for 23 yards in the opening night win at Orlando (5/29)...Caught a 20-yard touchdown pass, ran for a touchdown and posted a sack in the 64-60 comeback win over New Orleans (6/6)...Made four tackles, two assists, scored a touchdown on the ground and added a sack in the 39-37 win at Charlotte (6/12)...Rambled for 32 yards and made three tackles in the win over Cleveland (6/20)...Ran for a 21-yard touchdown and posted a sack in the 49-37 win at Dallas (6/27)...Blocked a kick and notched a sack of Ben Bennett in the Storm's 48-33 loss to Orlando (7/2)...Had two sacks in the Storm's win at Arizona (7/11)... Ran for 27 yards, including a 13-yard touchdown, and broke up a pass in the win against Albany (7/18)...Forced a fumble and scored on a one-yard win in the 53-14 win at New Orleans (7/25)...Made three tackles and a sack, and forced a fumble against Charlotte (8/1)...Notched a sack, receovered a fumble and made three tackles in the first round win over Cincinnati (8/8)...Had four tackles and a sack in the semifinal loss at Orlando (8/15).
1993: Named to the All-AFL first team after a season for the ages...Set team records with 85 carries, 308 yards rushing, 15 rushing touchdowns and seven sacks...Named to the All-AFL First Team...Ran for 24 yards, scored a touchdown and posted three sacks in the Storm's opening night win over Cleveland (5/15)..Scored two touchdowns on the ground an dmade three tackles one week later at Orlando (5/21)...Rambled for 39 yards and two touchdowns and made four tackles in the Storm's 29-22 win at Miami (5/31)...Ran for 24 yards, scored two touchdowns, made five tackles, recovered a fumble and notched a sack in Tampa Bay's 52-19 romp over Charlotte (6/5)...Scored a touchdown, ran for 22 yards and broke up two passes at Arizona (6/12)...Made two tackles and blocked a kick in the Storm's 46-45 loss to Orlando (6/19)...Ran for 31 yards on seven carries and scored two touchdowns in the 36-33 win at Albany (6/26)...Caught a 33-yard touchdown pass, ran for 36 yards and made two tackles in the win over Cincinnati (7/3)...Made three tackles, ran for 40 yards and notched a sack in the Storm's 65-46 win over Miami (7/17)...Rushed for three touchdowns and 25 yards, made a sack, collected two tackles and forced a fumble in the home win over Albany (7/24) ...Completed a 17-yard touchdown pass to Bobby Byrd,ran for a score, made four tackles and a sack in the regular season ending win at Cleveland (7/30)...Ran for 21 yards and a touchdown in first round win over Albany (8/6)...One week later at Orlando (8/14), ran for 38 yards and a touchdown in the Storm's upset win.
1997: Joined the Storm after playing a full season with the World League's Frankfurt Galaxy at linebacker...First game was at Texas (7/5)...One week later vs. Anaheim (7/12) he proved he was back, being named the Ironman of the Game...Against the Piranhas, he ran for 37 yards on eight carries, posted two tackles, recovered a fumble, notched a sack and scored a club-record-tying four rushing touchdowns...Against Iowa a week later (7/19), he scored a touchdown and had three tackles...Named Ironman of the Game against Florida (7/26) thanks to a four-touchdown, two sack performance...Recorded a sack and a safety in the Storm's win at San Jose (8/2)...Ended up leading the Storm in sacks and rushing touchdowns in spite of only playing five games...Led the Storm with 40 yards on 13 carries in the playoffs...30 of those yards came in the playoff game at Nashville (8/10), when the Storm ran for a season-best 75 yards...Scored a touchdown in each of the playoff games...Made four tackles and recovered a fumble at Arizona (8/16); offensively, he caught one pass for 17 yards and scored a touchdown on the ground.
1998: Set a career high for sacks with seven...Finished second on the club in rushing with 110 yards and seven rushing touchdowns...Ended the season fourth on the team in total tackles with 38, including 28 solo stops... Named the Arena Football League's Ironman of the Week for Week One after posting three sacks for 20 yards and leading the Storm with six tackles and two assists at San Jose (5/1)...He also forced a fumble and had two carries for one yard on offense...In the home opener against Nashville (5/9), he made two tackles and two assists and helped pressure Kats QB Andy Kelly...Led the Storm in rushing with four yards on four carries...Against Houston (5/16) he gained eight yards on 12 carries on offense and made a tackle, assisted on two others and broke up a pass on defense...Deactivated due to injury for the game at Florida (5/23)...Recorded his fourth sack of the season, ran for nine yards and scored his first touchdown of the year at New Jersey (5/30); he also posted three tackles...Gained no yards on three carries against New York (6/6)...Had one tackle on defense and forced Mike Perez into an intentional grounding call in the first quarter...Rushed four times for a team-high nine yards and recorded one unassisted tackle on defense at Orlando (6/12)...Ran three times for three yards on offense, scoring once against Albany (6/20)...Tied Les Barley for the lead among linebackers with three unassisted tackles...Hit the highlight film against Orlando (6/27), punctuating the Storm's rousing win by recovering a Pat O'Hara fumble and scampering 36 yards for a score with 27 seconds left in the game...Tried to do a "Lambeau Leap" into the stands after the score but merely made it as far as the metal railings separating the stands from the field of play...Rushed four times for seven yards; on defense, he added three total tackles, including one unassisted...Led the Storm in rushing at Houston (7/2), gaining a season-best 27 yards on six carries...Scored on the Storm's first possession of the third quarter via a five-yard sweep...Defensively, he tied for the lead among linebackers with three solo tackles...In the nationally televised Sunday afternoon game with Florida (7/12), he rushed one time, gaining two yards...Posted a sack on the Bobcats' last possession of the game...Would have notched a sack in the first quarter, but Florida QB Fred McNair got the ball away as Bowden hit him and was called for intentional grounding...Tied for the team lead in total tackles with five and unassisted tackles with four...Recovered a Bobcat fumble in the third quarter...Broke up his first pass since Week Three...Scored a season-high three touchdowns, doubling his total to that point in the season, at Nashville (7/17)...Gained 15 yards on six carries...Posted three total tackles and one sack, on the Kats' first possession of the second half...Scored on his longest run of the season, a 13-yarder, in the second quarter to give the Storm a 21-7 lead en route to thrashing Iowa 71-44 (7/25)...Posted one unassisted tackle...Recovered an Aaron Garcia fumble at the Storm's 11-yard-line in the first quarter to thwart an Iowa threat...Closed out the season with a bang at Grand Rapids (8/1), posting a sack on Grand Rapids QB Cory Pullig...On the sack, he forced a fumble that Lynn Rowland recovered in the end zone for a second quarter touchdown...Carried once for seven yards...Led the Storm in rushing in the postseason, with 13 carries for 61 yards and two scores...Both of his touchdowns came in the semifinal win against New Jersey (8/14); he also ran for 35 yards in that contest.
1999: Opened the season strongly against Albany (4/24), leading the Storm with 19 yards on the ground on just four carries...One of his runs went for a score, a one-yarder that tied the game at 42-42 in the fourth quarter...Added three tackles, including two solos, and recovered a Tim Brown fumble at the Storm's one-yard-line in the second quarter to avert a near-certain score...At Milwaukee (4/29), he turned his efforts to the defensive side of the ball, sacking Todd Hammel twice for 14 yards of losses...Also gained five yards on three carries in the 49-42 win over the Mustangs...Was second on the Storm in rushing against Florida (5/15) with ten yards on three carries...His biggest impact against the Bobcats, though, came on defense, as he snuffed out a prime scoring opportunity on Florida's first possession of the game by pouncing on a Michael McClenton fumble in the Storm's end zone...Bowden bookended his effort by recovering a fumble on the Bobcats' final possession, returning it 14 yards to the Florida 11-yard-line with 39 seconds left in the game...In addition, he posted two assisted tackles and broke up a pass.
Career Highlights: Entered 1999 as the team's all-time leader in sacks (25), rushing yardage (743) and rushing touchdowns (42)...Is fifth in league history in rushing yardage, second in rushing attempts and third rushing touchdowns...Is one of only two players left from the Storm's opening game in 1991, the other is Tracey Perkins...Joined training camp of the New Orleans Saints in 1994...Later wound up on the New England Patriots, where he stayed for two seasons (1994-95)...Joined the Frankfurt Galaxy of the World League for the 1997 season...In his NFL and World League stints, he was a linebacker only...Named CIAA Player of the Year in 1988 at Fayetteville State.
AFL Statistics
1999 GAME-BY-GAME RECEIVING Date Opponent REC YDS AVG LG TD ---------------------------------------------- 4/24 Albany 0 0 0.0 0 0 4/29 Milwaukee 0 0 0.0 0 0 5/15 Florida 0 0 0.0 0 0 ---------------------------------------------- SEASON TOTALS 0 0 0.0 0 0 RUSHING Date Opponent RUSH YDS AVG LG TD ---------------------------------------------- 4/24 Albany 4 19 4.8 11 1 4/29 Milwaukee 3 5 1.7 3 0 5/15 Florida 3 10 3.3 6 0 ---------------------------------------------- SEASON TOTALS 10 34 3.4 11 1 DEFENSE Date Opponent TKL AST SKS YDS FF-FR INT YDS TD ------------------------------------------------------------- 4/24 Albany 2 1 0 0 0-1 0 0 0 4/29 Milwaukee 0 1 2 14 0-0 0 0 0 5/15 Florida 0 2 0 0 0-2 0 0 0 ------------------------------------------------------------- SEASON TOTALS 2 4 2 14 0-3 0 0 0 CAREER RECEIVING Year Team REC YDS AVG LG TD ---------------------------------------------- 1991 Tampa Bay 7 72 10.3 28 0 1992 Tampa Bay 4 43 10.8 22 1 1993 Tampa Bay 2 36 18.0 33 1 1997 Tampa Bay 2 18 9.0 19 0 1998 Tampa Bay 1 2 2.0 2 0 1999 Tampa Bay 0 0 0.0 0 0 ---------------------------------------------- CAREER TOTALS 16 171 10.7 33 2 RUSHING Year Team RUSH YDS AVG LG TD ---------------------------------------------- 1991 Tampa Bay 31 110 3.5 21 5 1992 Tampa Bay 42 134 3.2 21 6 1993 Tampa Bay 85 308 3.6 14 15 1997 Tampa Bay 31 81 2.6 16 9 1998 Tampa Bay 49 110 2.2 13 7 1999 Tampa Bay 10 34 3.4 11 1 ---------------------------------------------- CAREER TOTALS 248 777 3.1 26 43 DEFENSE Year Team TKL AST SKS YDS FF-FR INT YDS TD ------------------------------------------------------------- 1991 Tampa Bay 18 0 1 N/A 0-0 0 0 0 1992 Tampa Bay 20 2 7 N/A 2-0 1 0 0 1993 Tampa Bay 32 5 6 N/A 2-2 0 0 0 1997 Tampa Bay 12 2 4 18 1-1 0 0 0 1998 Tampa Bay 28 11 7 45 1-3 0 0 1 1999 Tampa Bay 2 4 2 14 0-2 0 0 0 ------------------------------------------------------------- CAREER TOTALS 112 24 27 N/A 6-9 1 0 1