Longtime 49ers linebacker NaVorro Bowman retires

SANTA CLARA - NaVorro Bowman will miss the smell of football.

The former 49ers linebacker came to OTAs on Wednesday to announce his retirement from the NFL. After practice, as he stood in the huddle with the rest of the players, he just smelled them.

“They all were funky,” Bowman said in the 49ers media work room. “I remember smelling like that. I have on a clean white shirt, but I still wanted to give them hugs. I still wanted to touch the pads. Guys said, ‘You look like you still play.’ I can, but I’m content with (life). I’m glad I was able to be a 49er. There are plenty of organizations, but the 49ers are a historic, well-respected place. Wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”

Bowman played with the 49ers for eight seasons - he was their third-round draft pick in 2010. And he was an All Pro from 2011 to 2013, one of the best players in the NFL during that time. In January of 2014, during the NFC Championship against the Seattle Seahawks, safety Eric Reid dove into Bowman’s knee as Bowman tackled Seahawks wide receiver Jermaine Kearse, and Bowman’s knee bent sideways. He tore the ACL and MCL in his left knee, and missed the next season.

Bowman never was the same player after the injury. But in 2015, he returned to the field and made the All-Pro team for the fourth time - a remarkable comeback.

Four games into 2016, Bowman tore his Achilles and missed the rest of the season. The 49ers released him in 2017. He finished his career with 798 tackles, 14 sacks, nine forced fumbles and five interceptions.

“This guy was the (freaking) man,” head coach Kyle Shanahan explained to his players in the huddle after practice.

Tight end George Kittle recalled meeting Bowman during OTAs in 2017. “I was terrified of him,” Kittle said. “He’s a monster. Are you kidding me? I was a rookie coming from Iowa. He would curl the entire weight rack before practice so he would look even bigger for practice. Terrifying.

“He set the standard of how you practice: High intensity every play. Didn’t take plays off. Ran to the ball. Great vocal leader. Everything you want. He did it for so long here, and he did it right. He played in big games. He won big games. He had a pick-six in the last game ever at Candlestick. He was born to make big plays. To have him retire here, it’s an honor to be able to be a part of the team when he still does it.”

Before Tuesday, Bowman hadn’t returned to the 49ers’ facility since the team released him five games into the 2017 season. He was angry they cut him. “I never saw myself being second to anyone. When the draft happened (and the 49ers took Reuben Foster), things started moving fast. I had just come off an Achilles. You need time to get back, and I feel like it wasn’t given to me. But there’s pressure (on a head coach) when you’re new. You want to start making changes. I understand the business.”

The 49ers released Bowman, and he immediately signed with the Raiders and played with them for the rest of 2017. In 2018, he did not play for any team, even though he received contract offers.

“Tons,” Bowman said. “But the respect just wasn’t there. I know who I am. I know what I’m worth. I know what you’re going to ask me to do if I sign this contract. I just wanted to get compensated for that. It wasn’t working out. Honestly, I felt like I wasn’t being looked at the same way. Am I dependent on football? No. Then, I can retire. That’s what happened. I have no regrets. When I felt it was time to get out, I got out.”

These days, Bowman lives in McLean, Virginia, with his wife and three children, and coaches his son’s 10-and-under basketball team. The kids call him “Coach Bow.”

When Coach Bow thinks back on his NFL career, does he wonder what it would might have been had he not injured his knee in 2014?

“Yeah,” Bowman said. “That one play. Should I have just let him score? Maybe I would be playing 12 or 13 years and be a six-time All Pro. I don’t know. You want to be a football player. I was giving everything for my teammates.”

Bowman holds out hope he’ll become a Hall of Famer when he’s eligible in 2024.

“All those mistakes that happened to NaVorro Bowman,” he said, “hopefully, I get rewarded.”