North Carolina State University Athletics
The Married Life
11/8/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 8, 2004
After every game, most Wolfpack players probably go back to their dorm rooms or apartments and unwind the rest of the day. Other than some homework or studying, they probably will not have any more responsibilities, once they've executed all of their assignments in the game. Senior offensive guard Rickey Fowler returns home to spend the rest of the evening with his wife, Stephanie, but no matter how well he blocked for NC State's rushers and no matter how well he blocked for the Pack's passers, he is still be responsible for walking the Fowler's dog before retiring for the night.
"Her name is Mariah," Fowler said about the little Wheaton Terrier that he and Stephanie found in its kennel on the curb one day during a snowstorm last year. "It's a fluffy, hyper dog and Stephanie gets on me for not wanting to take the dog out at night. We live on the top floor of our building and when I get home, I just don't feel like it."
"She takes a long time and Rickey gets frustrated waiting on her, just standing out there," Stephanie said laughing. "I get mad at him because I think of our dog as a child."
It seems a little strange to have a college kid that's married and even stranger that a big burly football player, who is around a locker room full of 18 to 22-year-old guys all day, every day, would choose to get married so young.
"I used to think it was unique, but now we've got so many guys on the team getting married that it really doesn't seem that different," said Fowler, who is one of five married guys on the team. "I feel like it's a lot easier lifestyle to live. A lot of people probably think that it is a lot harder, but I feel like it's a lot easier. To be settled down and be committed to somebody makes it comfortable because you don't have to worry about this person, that person and what this person is doing with that person. You just know that you've got somebody who is always going to be there for you, no matter what you're going through. I know my teammates are going to be there for me on the field and I know my wife is going to be there for me off the field, no matter what."
An injury-plagued career has followed Fowler from the defensive line, where he started, to the offensive line, where he's been the past two years. The Columbus, Ga., native has always had to work hard to achieve his goals, including his bride.
"We met in middle school," Fowler said. "She was a cheerleader and I was a football player. We would always say hello to each other, so I thought that she would be my girl, but turned out she just wanted to be friends. I asked her to go to the Valentine's Day dance in eighth grade and she told me that she didn't want to go. We stayed in contact through high school, even though we went to different schools. We still lived near each other, but we had to go to different schools. I had a girlfriend, but I would still go see Stephanie at the mall where she worked. We stayed in touch and we were close friends that could call each other with problems that we wanted to talk to each other about. I took her to my prom senior year and then after that we started hanging out together more and more and it probably became more of a `going-together' relationship that summer after high school."
They spent the rest of the summer seeing as much of each other as possible before Rickey headed off to NC State, reporting to preseason camp of his freshman year. He would fly back whenever he had a weekend off, but he would never tell Stephanie when he was coming back.
"He would surprise me," Stephanie said. "It could be any time of the day or night and I could be anywhere doing anything and he would just pop up with flowers. One time he had my best friend call me crying and saying that she needed to come over to talk. I had already gotten ready for bed that night, but I told her she could come over. When I opened the door she was standing there, but then Rickey came walking up behind her. It was dark and he didn't have his braids in, so I got scared and just ran. He was always up to something."
Following his freshman season, Fowler went straight from the Micron PC Bowl to Stephanie's house to give her a Christmas gift.
"He had put all these boxes on top of each other with some little Christmas gifts," Stephanie said. "I opened everything up and then the last box had a ring in it. He dropped to one knee and was shaking as he asked me to marry him."
The following fall, Stephanie moved to Raleigh and they were married the next May.
"It was a big change," Stephanie said about moving to North Carolina. "Trying to learn streets, trying to find a job and not knowing anyone else here was difficult. I remember being frustrated during two-a-days because I couldn't figure out how he could be at practice all day and all night and not have time to talk to me. Now I understand how that works and I'm used to him not being around during preseason."
Fowler and his married teammates: Fred Span, Brian Clark and fellow offensive linemen James Newby and Leroy Harris, get together sometimes and their wives have now become friends too.
"Most of the wives get together for the games and sometimes we'll make t-shirts," Stephanie said. "We'll all get together and have cookouts or go bowling. It's like a big family. We've been making plans since last spring to go to all the road games."
That will be something both of the Fowlers will miss after this year, but both Rickey and Stephanie are also looking forward to the future.
"Right now my goal is to graduate and get that degree," said Fowler, who is a sports management major. "I have aspirations to play in the NFL, but if that doesn't work out, then I'll get a job so that I can provide for my family."
"I will be just as proud of him graduating as I would of him going pro," Stephanie said. "Once he has that degree under his belt, he will always have something to fall back on. I am going to miss NC State football after this year. If he gets a chance to play pro, then I will be the loud fan that I always am, but I will be behind him no matter what he wants to do. I told him that I don't care if he's a garbage man, I'm still going to love him the same."
