[Drae] Bowles, the oldest son of Madison County [Tennessee] Sheriff’s Office Captain Dexter Bowles, is polite and honest. He looks you directly in the eyes and says, “Yes, sir.” When he speaks about the full college experience — not just football — you believe him. He’s confident, but he isn’t cocky. He doesn’t think he knows everything…
“My dad has always taught me and my brother to carry yourself in a very (mannerly) way,” Bowles said that afternoon. “I’ve just learned that trait growing up.”
… [I asked his high school coach:] “Is Drae really that good of a kid?”
Most coaches, especially when you turn off your recorder, will at least be fairly honest with questions like that. They’ll tell you if a kid is disingenuous or a tad rough around the edges, or if he’s just a normal kid who means well but occasionally finds mischief.
[The coach] didn’t flinch.
“Absolutely,” the coach replied. “What you see is what you get. He’s always like that.”
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Bowles went on to play for the University of Tennessee Knoxville, where he was allegedly repeatedly beaten by teammates for assisting a woman who was allegedly raped by one of his teammates.
The “factual allegations” section of the lawsuit claims that Bowles had taken the alleged victim, a plaintiff in the lawsuit referred to as Jane Doe IV, to the hospital the night of her assault and supported her decision to report the incident to the authorities. It claims that the fifth plaintiff in the case, who is referred to as Jane Doe V and the only plaintiff who was not an alleged rape victim, witnessed several football players “jumping” Bowles on Nov. 17, 2014, the day after the alleged rape occurred.
The lawsuit says Jane Doe IV later understood that “athletic coaches were present” during that altercation. It also says Jane Doe IV learned that Bowles was assaulted a second time by the same players in a team facility.
Bowles transferred out of Knoxville after all this happened and, you know, you can’t blame him. Knoxville can’t keep its women from getting raped and its men from being beaten.
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By the way, this is one humongous whopper of a lawsuit. Watch closely.
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