On this episode of the Moran-Alytics Podcast, Patrick Moran has a lengthy interview with former NFL player and current ESPN writer/analyst Matt Bowen on a variety of topics covering Bowen’s life and career.

They circle back to Bowen’s beginning, where he describes growing up near Chicago a fan of the Bears, particularly the legendary 1985 Super Bowl team that helped inspired him to start playing in fourth grade. A star quarterback running a veer offense as well as defensive back in high school, Bowen was recruited by several colleges as a quarterback and ultimately chose Iowa over Northwestern.  He’d eventually move to the defensive side of the ball in college and became a two-year starter for Iowa.

Bowen gives details of his NFL draft process that began after his college career ended and culminated with being a sixth-round pick of the St. Louis Rams in 2000.  He gives insight and perspective to what it’s been like being the guy picked exactly one spot before the New England Patriots took Tom Brady.

He also discusses his seven-year playing career, including a season in Buffalo where he speaks fondly of former Bills head coach Dick Jauron in addition to several teammates.

The conversation shifts to Bowen’s post career and he talks about going back to school to get his Master’s and becoming a fixture in the sports journalism field, writing for numerous print and web publications before eventually landing his current job at ESPN.  He talks about that process including getting comfortable being on camera.

They conclude by spending time talking several potential Buffalo Bills draft targets with Bowen also offering his thoughts on Josh Allen and the Bills organization going forward.

If that’s not enough, Bowen’s also a coach on a high school football team that has won three straight high school state championships. He talks about the pride, teaching and competitiveness that comes with coaching.

You can follow Matt on Twitter at @MattBowen41 and follow his work on ESPN.

After that Moran is joined by Joe from NYC (@BuffaloWins) for another installment of “The Run-In With Joe.” Today the guys are discussing the release of the Buffalo Bills 2019 schedule, with Moran a big fan of how it played out while Joe being considerably more indifferent. They also give their takes on the WWE Superstar Shakeup this week and conclude with Game of Thrones talk, both having thoughts on the premiere, looking forward to the next episode and each offering predictions of three characters who will ultimately die before the series ends.

Follow Patrick Moran on Twitter @patmorantweets 

♦♦♦♦♦

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.