Boylan grad Dean Lowry excited to play for another 'iconic' NFL team, Pittsburgh Steelers
Dean Lowry wore green at Boylan High School and with the Green Bay Packers. He also wanted to wear green in college, but Notre Dame did not recruit him. Instead, he entered the Notre Dame family through a side door, marrying former Notre Dame volleyball player Maddie Plumlee last summer.
On the Notre Dame campus.
“I joke that I always wanted to go there but in the end, I got married there,” said Lowry, who starred for Northwestern instead in college.
And now he continues a new NFL life with his new bride. The Lowrys were in Minnesota last year, where Dean had a disappointing, injury-shortened season with the Vikings after seven years in Green Bay. They have a home in Carmel, Indiana, but plan to spend the fall in Pittsburgh after Lowry signed a free-agent contract with the Steelers last week.
More: Rockford’s greatest football players No. 4: Dean Lowry from Boylan to NU to Packers
“It’s been a lot of changes,” Lowry said. “My first year in Green Bay, I was a single guy in my early 20s. Now I am pushing 30 and married. I have been through each stage of the NFL now.
“It’s fun to have a life partner going through these changes. Starting new in Pittsburgh, it’s great to have someone at my side like that.”
Maddie Lowry knows the drill. Her parents both played college basketball, Perky Plumee at Tennessee Tech and Leslie (Schultz) Plumlee at Purdue. Her three brothers all played for Duke. Mason Plumlee has been in the NBA for 11 years, now averaging 5.4 points and 5.0 rebounds for the Clippers.
“She comes from a very athletic family,” Lowry said. “She understands the life of a professional athlete and how that business is.”
More: Rockford's 10 greatest high school football coaches and what made them great
Lowry got a new understanding of that life himself last year. He started 80 games in seven seasons at Green Bay, appearing in 111 games total and never playing fewer than 15 games in a season. But in his lone season in Minnesota, he tore his pectoral muscle stretching to tackle Javonte Williams in the second quarter of a 21-20 loss in Denver in mid-November. He had season-ending surgery the day before Thanksgiving.
“I hurt it trying to make an arm tackle. Just poor technique,” Lowry said. “I felt my shoulder go right away.
“It was a challenging year. My first-ever serious injury. It’s been a long road back to recovery, but now I am finally healthy and building back strength. It shouldn’t be an issue going into training camp.
“They say your best ability is your availability. For most of my career, I have been viewed as a very durable player. This last year I have hit some hurdles. I am looking forward to getting back playing at a high level.”
Pittsburgh, he says, is the perfect place to do that.
The Steelers, famously, have never had a losing season in coach Mike Tomlin’s 20 years. They remind Lowry of Green Bay. They are known for defense. And they value veterans, maybe now more than ever since they have not won a playoff game the last seven seasons.
“I am excited to join a franchise that is known for its defense,” Lowry said. “The level of consistency that Coach Tomlin has had over a decade now is really impressive. I am looking forward to being a part of it. Also, you see some similarities between Green Bay and Pittsburgh, with respect to being an iconic franchise and being in a community that really values football.
“It was an easy choice. It was a slow first week of free agency but I wasn’t really surprised, seeing how last season went with the injury and everything. The Steelers called at the right time. I went to visit last week to Pittsburgh and it felt right.”
After playing defensive end for seven years in Green Bay, Lowry moved inside to tackle with the Vikings. Now the plans are for him to move back to end in Pittsburgh’s 3-4 scheme. He gets the first chance to show what he can do when OTAs (Organized Team Activities) start on April 15.
“It’s going to be a competitive training camp,” Lowry said. “There are already a lot of good players in place on defense. I am more of a depth piece at this point. But that’s a good place to be. It’s a team that always has a good defense. It’s a well-run organization. I am looking forward to the challenge.”
Lowry has passed Freeport’s Preston Pearson, who played in five Super Bowls, and Rochelle offensive lineman Stan Campbell, who played on three NFL champions, for most NFL games started by a Rockford-area player. He said consistency will be the key to whether he adds to his 84 career starts with more in Pittsburgh.
“With young players, sometimes it’s more up and down with them. Meeting with Coach Tomlin, he made it clear that there is a strong sense of urgency right now in the building and he wants guys who have been there and done that,” Lowry said.
“I fit that mold of what they are looking for in a defensive player this fall.”
Most NFL starts by former Rockford-area high school football players
Player (high school) NFL starts
Dean Lowry (Boylan), 84
Preston Pearson (Freeport), 73
Stan Campbell (Rochelle), 65
James Robinson (Rockford Lutheran), 32
Sean Considine (Byron), 28
Contact: mtrowbridge@rrstar.com, @matttrowbridge or 815-987-1383. Matt Trowbridge has covered sports for the Rockford Register Star for over 30 years, after previous stints in North Dakota, Delaware, Vermont and Iowa City.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Dean Lowry says being 'depth piece' for Steelers is 'good place to be'
