BY TIM PEELER
RALEIGH, N.C. - You never want to play favorites, with your own kids or someone else's.
But I have to admit that Saturday night, seeing senior wide receiver Donald Bowens return to action against Gardner-Webb after missing more than a season with injuries was a pretty meaningful experience.
As was seeing senior running back Toney Baker, who missed most of the last two seasons with a knee injury, return in the 2009 season opener against South Carolina. I hated what happened to him on his first play back from scrimmage, but seeing Baker on the field after two years of surgery and rehabilitation was gratifying, primarily because of all the work he had to go through to get back on the field.
It's difficult for most people to imagine the hardships some student-athletes go through as they try to balance rehab, with off-season training, classes and, in some cases, summer internships. Every hour of every day, from before sunrise to after sunset, is filled with some sort of obligation that the average fan never considers when they are in the stands on game day.
Both Bowens and Baker had internships this summer that had them working on the reorganization of the athletic department archives stored in the basement and closets of Reynolds Coliseum. They were dedicated to helping, and they both came away from the project with a better understanding and appreciation for the history of NC State athletics.
Baker spent much of his time working on a separate project in the media relations office, but he was willing to come by and help when he could, making copies or going through the files that needed reorganizing.
Bowens, along with marketing intern Blake Scher, spent most of the summer working on the project, showing up after his rehabilitation sessions and off-season work-outs with dust mask in hand and ice packs on his knee. They were often stuck in a tiny closet in Reynolds cataloguing some 500 reels of 16mm film or meticulously counting and cataloguing the 7,000 file folders we have on former student-athletes.
Bowens missed some time going back and forth to doctors to have his surgically repaired knee evaluated, but he was instrumental getting the project getting started.
He admits that handling rehab, workouts and an internship got to be a grind, especially with the daily 5 a.m. wake-up calls. But he remained optimistic throughout the summer that he would return to the lineup before September was over, even though head coach Tom O'Brien cautiously projected a later date.
Bowens - the team's leading receiver with 41 receptions for 598 yards and three touchdowns in 2007 - came on that promise Saturday night, returning to the lineup in the second quarter for the first time since the 2007 season-finale against Maryland, when he caught five passes for 57 yards and returned five kickoffs for 71 yards.
Bowens participated in 21 snaps, making two catches for 17 yards. That was a little more than O'Brien anticipated, but it was necessary because of junior Owen Spencer's concussion.
"It was great to be back out there with the guys," Bowens said. "I know I am truly blessed to be back out there. From the start, traveling from the hotel to the field to the pregame warm-ups, it was great to be back out there.
"It has been a long time."
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
Courtesy: Tim Peeler
