Meet Peter Bowden, Wisconsin football unsung hero and potential future NFL player
MADISON – Peter Bowden played his 27th straight game as a Wisconsin Badger on Saturday and very few noticed.
That’s means he did his job.
The redshirt senior from San Diego is serving his third season as UW’s starting long snapper. It’s an unsung hero role usually noticed only when something goes wrong, but in Bowden’s case, the position has also been the key to a scholarship and the chance of an NFL career.
He talked to the Journal Sentinel about how he started in the sport, the satisfaction he felt from going from a walk-on to scholarship player and why he feels he has a chance to play in the NFL.
Peter Bowden credits his start as a long snapper to a cousin
Bowden’s cousin Ryan Sanborn was a high school All-American punter who is a graduate transfer at Texas this season. When the two were freshmen at Parker School in San Diego, Sanborn was putting together some a film for recruiters and needed some help.
“He basically said can you snap for me and I started snapping and started learning,” Bowden said. “He would bring me out to go work with him and with his coaches and they started teaching me how to snap and over the years it just kind of progressed."
That season a handful of injuries gave Bowden the opportunity to long snap on the varsity. He never relinquished the job.
“When you’re young and you take charge of it, they just kind of let you do it,” he said. “But I played other positions in high school. I was an O-lineman. I played a little linebacker, D-end.”
By the time he was a senior, he earned a five-star rating by Kohl’s kicking and Rubio Long Snapping and an invitation to walk on at Wisconsin.
Badgers scholarship came during sophomore year
Long snapper is the only position a player can be considered a five-star talent yet usually start as a walk-on at the Division I level.
Adam Bay was entrenched as the Badgers' starter during Bowden’s first two years, but Bowden showed enough potential to earn a scholarship just after Bay wrapped up his career in 2020.
Bowden feels he proved himself twice, first to Paul Chryst's coaching staff and now Luke Fickell's.
“I think it’s cool to be put on scholarship with two different programs, too," Bowden said. "I have done my job through the old staff and to come with the new staff and (they) be able to say we also value you as a scholarship player, that’s cool."
This will be Bowden's final college season. Could NFL be next?
While Bowden could return next season for his COVID year, he says this season will be his last in college. He could move on to the NFL. Bowden said UW ran a punt scheme under Chryst that is used a lot in the league.
The biggest difference, Bowden said, is in the pro scheme the snapper has to block and often in college that player does not.
“It’s really difficult to learn,” he said. “It’s probably a year and a half learning curve because of all different details going on and the speed. So being able to have done that in college and show I can run an NFL scheme is pretty valuable.”
Bowden has backup plan
Bowden graduated in May with a degree in economics. This semester he will work on a certificate program in non-profit and community leadership.
“There is a lot of banking and finance in my family, so that has always been interesting to me,” he said. “But with an economics background and nonprofit background I may look more towards a nonprofit area. That is where I’m looking. Right now I’m pretty unsure. Right now I’m pretty much focused on football.”
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin long snapper Peter Bowden earned scholarship, aims for NFL
