His football family at Muskogee High School calls him “quick feet’ because of his athletic ability and his bond with the football family has been one of teaching and nurturing according to head coach Travis Hill.

“We’ve really created a bond with Deyonn over the years I’ve been here through some tough times and some teaching times, but it’s been fun to watch him grow both as a football player and a person.”

Deyonn says his stepfather got him into football in the second grade and he became more serious about the game around the sixth grade when he started paying attention to the high school players and thinking about what it would be like when it was his time.

“Football for me is kind of an escape. No matter what’s going on at home or school, when I get out on the football field, I just feel peace and it clears my mind,” said the senior defensive back.

Finding a role model to look up to was pretty easy for Bowler who led the Roughers last year with six interceptions.

“My cousin is Kamren Curl (former Rougher now with the Washington Commanders of the NFL). I always looked up to him and how well he did, and he has been a big inspiration to me.”

In his early high school years, Bowler succeeded mostly on his athletic abilities but over the last two years coaches have been showing him that ability by itself isn’t always enough.

“It’s taken some hard coaching on our part to get him to understand that and it’s been challenging on both sides at times, but it’s been satisfying to see him making those adjustments this year,” said Hill.

Besides his quick feet, there’s another aspect of his anatomy that Bowler takes a lot of kidding about.

“He’s 5-10 and about 170, not a big kid, but he’s got the biggest hands and feet for a kid that size that I’ve ever seen, “laughed Hill.

“Yeah, I take a lot of kidding about that, but those big hands really come in handy on defense,” responded Bowler.