13-05-2025
Gowan embracing three-down opportunity
The Canadian Football League is full of reclamation projects. Tay Gowan is more than that.
The man known as 'Gowan Island' on the football field is just as thankful to be at Winnipeg Blue Bombers training camp as he was to find a bed to lie in for most of his life.
As a child and through high school, Gowan and his mom bounced around homeless shelters and surfed couches in Covington, Ga. Sometimes, it was easiest for them to recline the seats in her Jeep.
CAMERON BARTLETT / WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS
Winnipeg Blue Bombers rookie defensive back Tay Gowan (23) is adjusting to the CFL rulebook from his four-down background.
'My mom actually stayed in the dorm with me at Miami-Ohio (University). People don't know that. She slept on an air mattress in my dorm room,' Gowan said Tuesday.
There wasn't much he could do as a kid to pull them from struggle, but as he grew older and his talent on the football field blossomed, his mission became reaching the National Football League and making enough money so that they wouldn't ever have to wonder where they'd sleep again.
'I don't even want to make it like a sad story, but yeah, we went through all that. And I definitely kept my grades up, I didn't get in no trouble. If we ever needed money, I just kept my head focused on what I wanted to do, and I can eventually provide,' he said.
'I'm still chasing that dream, though.'
You could write a book on Gowan's path to three-down football — he's already doing that, though.
At 27, he is already older for a first-year defensive back.
Gowan didn't start until his Grade 12 season, but a strong campaign earned him First-Team All-State honours and several offers at the next level, the best of which came from Miami-Ohio. A bad shoulder required surgery, though, delaying his college debut by two years.
Little did he know at the time, lost years would become a theme in his career.
In 2018, Gowan transferred to Butler Community College in Kansas, where he faced a similar challenge to what's in front of him with the Bombers — proving himself.
A six-interception season vaulted him to the top-ranked defensive back in the National Junior College Athletic Association and earned him all-conference honours. He was recruited back to NCAA Division 1 by the University of Central Florida, an offer he accepted due to its proximity to home.
Another strong campaign with the Knights had Gowan projected as a second-round talent in the NFL draft.
Then disaster struck before he could play his final year of college. Gowan tested positive for COVID-19, which he passed to his girlfriend, newborn daughter — who was born prematurely and weighed just two pounds — and his mom, who had to be hospitalized with strong symptoms.
Gowan pushed football aside and didn't play in 2020, which tanked his draft stock. In 2021, he declared for the NFL draft, despite having just one year of tape at the highest level of college. He was eventually drafted, but had to wait until the sixth round to be selected by the Arizona Cardinals.
'I just heard in a song, 'God, he not gonna put more on you than you can bear,' so everything he put on my plate, he's already prepared me for,' he said.
'I don't regret anything. My daughter is more important than football to me. I gotta just prove myself again.'
After showing some promise in the pre-season with Arizona, Gowan was traded to Philadelphia four months after being drafted. For one reason or another, he didn't latch on after that, lasting one season with the Eagles before bouncing to Minnesota and Tennessee's practice squads.
It's now been nine months since he's played in a game, which makes the Bombers' first pre-season contest against Saskatchewan on May 24 a big one — as long as Gowan is still with the team.
'I might be emotional because I ain't played in so long. My type of talent, my type of calibre, it's kind of frustrating sitting out a whole year and wondering if I'm gonna play again, but Winnipeg called me and gave me an opportunity, and I was so grateful, so thankful. So I'm just leaving it all on the field for the guys,' he said.
CAMERON BARTLETT / WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS
Winnipeg Blue Bombers rookie defensive back Tay Gowan made an interception last Tuesday at rookie camp.
At 6-2, 185 pounds, Gowan stands out in more ways than one. His multi-coloured visor reflects the very receiver he's mirroring, and his 4.49-second 40-yard dash speed makes him one of the fastest on the field.
'He's got good size, and I think even more than the football stuff, he's just a good dude. And I think that's what stood out to me the most — a man of God,' said Marquise Bridges.
'He leads us in prayer at the end of every practice, and he's a good player, man. He's just going to get accustomed and try to get used to what's going on here.'
Gowan, who stood out in rookie camp last week, had an interception during the receiver-defensive back period of Tuesday's session. He put himself in a perfect position to catch a throw that was bobbled by receiver David Wallis and ran for what would've been a touchdown.
'I ain't had one in so long. I ain't touched that ball in so long,' he said, relieved. 'It was just so great, that's why I ran all the way to the end zone. I was like, 'You know what? I gotta go.''
Gowan is still adjusting to the rules that come with the Canadian game. There have been bright moments facing the waggle on a bigger field, and there have certainly been lessons.
Making it easier is seeing a familiar face in quarterback Chris Streveler, who was his teammate in Arizona. Gowan said he locks in a bit more each time they face each other, because he knows he'll hear about it if he allows a completion.
'It's kind of hard to get that confidence back, but as I went through rookie camp, I realized I'm still Gowan Island, that's still who I am,' Gowan said. 'Sitting out a year, it's going to take me a couple of days, but once I get back into rhythm, I'm going to show the team who I am.'
Gowan referenced the story of Greg Brooks Jr., a former safety and captain at Louisiana State University, whose football career was taken away from him due to a brain tumour, and how it relates to him.
Winnipeg Jets Game Days
On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop.
This winter, the Bombers inquired about his availability, but he didn't accept a training camp invite immediately as he waited for another opportunity from the NFL.
It's something that he had to sit with for a while, which he now feels foolish for not doing sooner. It's a chance to revive a career that once looked so promising.
'It was very selfish of me to not even be thankful for this opportunity,' Gowan said. 'So right now, I'm fully embracing it. I'm happy to be here. I'm enjoying the team.
'That's how I want to look at my life. I want to be thankful for opportunities because somebody would've died to be right here.'
Joshua Frey-SamReporter
Josh Frey-Sam reports on sports and business at the Free Press. Josh got his start at the paper in 2022, just weeks after graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College. He reports primarily on amateur teams and athletes in sports. Read more about Josh.
Every piece of reporting Josh produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
