McNeese State quarterback Jacob Bower is more than just a football player.
 
He’s a faithful Mormon, a husband and a father who has been through junior college and Football Bowl Subdivision football, and now he is a graduate student studying exercise physiology and quarterbacking the Cowboys.
 
It’s no wonder McNeese State coach Matt Viator found Bower appealing as a veteran to bring to the Cowboys’ offense.
 
After originally committing to Hawaii under former coach June Jones, Bower went on a two-year Mormon mission to Wisconsin before playing as the starting quarterback at Bakersfield (Calif.) Junior College in 2007. He also spent two years as the backup at Tulsa before graduating and embarking upon graduate school at McNeese State this year.
 
“We were going to be really young at the quarterback position,” Viator said. “We were looking for someone to bridge the gap. I was more intrigued with him as a person than anything else. He’s an outstanding young man.”
 
Bower, a native of Meridian, Idaho, saw McNeese State as a welcome opportunity for him and his wife, Rachel, to settle down. The couple had their first child, Wayne, on June 30.
 
Rachel and Jacob met on their first day at Bakersfield in 2007, and they married that following November. Rachel said her husband’s character was most attractive about him.
 
“He’s very humble. I adored that about him,” she said. “He’s the kind of guy who would give you the shirt off his back. He taught me a lot about giving and helping others.”
 
Bower said his Mormon mission, which he began at 19 years old and spent in Milwaukee, Green Bay and Madison, Wisc., helped him realize how blessed he was to have the opportunity to play football and to never take family for granted.
 
“I was one of those in a white shirt and tie who go around on bikes knocking on your door,” Bower said. “There’s nothing like … getting the door slammed on you or getting stuff thrown on you by the side of the road. It’s brought me a lot of happiness in my life … something I wanted to give back to God.”
 
Rachel has some athletic background of her own, playing junior college volleyball in Oklahoma last year. Now she attends as many McNeese State games as she can while taking care of the Bowers’ 3 1/2 month old-son.
 
“I know [Jacob] loves [football], and I love to support him,” Rachel said. “It’s got its ups and downs for sure.”
 
One of those “down” moments came Oct. 9 against Stephen F. Austin, when Jacob suffered a concussion in the first half and did not return. He has played in all five games this season, completing 60-of-99 passes for 803 yards with three touchdowns and six interceptions.
 
Bower underwent evaluations this week, but redshirt freshman Cody Stroud will start.
 
Bower may dress out, but he would only play in an emergency, Sports Information Director Louis Bonnette confirmed Thursday.
 
Stroud said he and Bower help each other in practice and in games, as they both are in their first season on the field at McNeese State.
 
“We hang out on and off the field,” Stroud said. “In the film room we help each other study, and on the sideline on Saturday night, if he’s confused about something or I’m confused about something, we’ll talk it over.”
 
Bower said it can be challenging to balance football with family life and school.
 
But Rachel said it has been a successful transition to the Louisiana weather and culture, and Jacob is an avid outdoorsman and devoted family man off the field.
 
“Honestly, we’ve never been to a place with such nice people,” she said. “Football may come and go. But [Jacob] finds passion in other things that make him happy.”
 
 
 
 
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Contact Rachel Whittaker at [email protected]