LARAMIE – Wyoming football hosted a 2030 recruit who has already had a meaningful impact on the program.

Brody James Bowlds’ poignant visit was on June 15. The strapping Laramie High School freshman-to-be made a strong impression on the current Cowboys.

“Just a kind soul through and through,” redshirt freshman offensive lineman Johnathan Bush said. “Even though we only got the day with him, that told us the kind of person that he is. He was honorable, he was respectful and he had just a heart of gold all the way. …

“Seeing the spark in his eyes was magnificent.”

Only nine days after smiling through a recruiting photo shoot, laughing with offensive linemen and enjoying a day as one of the Cowboys, Bowlds died.

He was 14.

UW head coach Jay Sawvel fought back tears in his office on a recent summer afternoon while reflecting on Bowlds’ brave fight with acute myeloid leukemia.

“As a parent, like, anything can happen at any time,” said Sawvel, who continues to wear a ‘Brody Strong’ bracelet while preparing for the start of fall camp on Aug. 5. “He won’t see us play this fall, but he loves Cowboy football. ...

“The message to our players is we’re blessed, we’re fortunate and we get a chance to do this.”

Bowlds’ parents, Scott Bowlds and Holly Horpestad, accompanied their son on his whirlwind day.

They watched Brody spend a few hours simply being a kid.

Quarterback Tyler Hughes approached the wide-eyed prospect shortly after his arrival at the High Altitude Performance Center.

“Hi, I’m Tyler.”

Assistant coaches filtered into the weight room to motivate the 10 a.m. lift group and “dapped up” Brody.

“It was surreal because we expected to be doing this junior, senior year,” Horpestad said. “I mean, with his diagnosis, we were always holding hope, but we had our doubts. So, for him to experience that and to see like the star-struck look, it was just amazing.”

Brody loved spending time with family, enjoying ranch life with his dad and going on adventures with his mom. He was a hiker, a hunter and a fan of barbecue. He cheered on his siblings during their sporting events and cheered up his own classmates and teammates at Laramie Middle School.

“That was Brody. It just seemed he was that person that had an impact on anybody he crossed,” Horpestad said. “He is just the most selfless, caring, loving kid. Nobody was ever a stranger to him. He would help anybody in any way he could. The kid loved life.”

Brody’s passion was football.

“You’re thinking about what you can do to kind of make it a good day,” Sawvel said. “I’m standing there in the locker room and I’m watching recruits doing photo shoots and thought, ‘Why don’t we have Brody do an official visit?’”

Samantha Patten, UW's Director of Recruiting Operations, has coordinated hundreds of recruiting visits during her four years with the program.

None felt like this one.

“You can't even imagine what these parents are going through and what he's going through,” Patten said. “To be that age and to have that on your shoulders, obviously no child should have to go through that. It was just really special for us to be able to spend that time with him.”

Sarah Sorum, Patten’s recruiting graduate assistant, made graphics for Brody. Brandon Haselbeck, the director of video operations, handled the photo shoot.

Before photos and social media graphics that accompany nearly every recruiting visit, Brody became the center of attention at training table.

“It was just a cool experience to meet him, meet his family. He is an inspiration to us,” redshirt freshman offensive lineman Cooper Lawson said. “Life is short and it can end anytime, so live life to the fullest. It was incredible to see that joy he had.

“Being able to meet him and give him some of our joy and seeing what it’s like in our world was pretty cool. It was a fun day showing him around and letting him be one of us for a day.”

Offensive line coach Joe Tripodi was proud to see his players make Brody one of their own. His daughter, Emma, was a classmate of Brody’s at Laramie Middle School.

“Everybody spoke highly of him, just a vibrant young man,” Tripodi said. “We have some very special young men in the O-line group, and it was natural that they were drawn to him. To see the young man smile and eating lunch with them and being around them, it was a very cool moment.

“It is very hard at times, but you just appreciate that our guys stepped up to the plate and to see him kind of be able to fit in with those guys for that time.”

Horpestad was not surprised Brody had instant chemistry with the O-line.

“They just kind of took him right under their wing and treated him just like one of the guys,” she said. “If you look at him next to them in some of those pictures, you can't really tell the difference because he was just as big as them.

“They treated him just like he was normal, and that's what he wanted. He just wanted to be Brody and that's what they did for him.”

Sawvel noticed Brody pause during the visit to take some of his medication from a large shoulder bag he carried full of pills.

“He didn’t eat much, but he talked and talked,” Sawvel said. “He was all in.”

After posing in a cowboy hat, Cowboy uniform and helmet, and draped in a Wyoming state flag, Brody left with a backpack full of football gear and an even bigger grin.

“When he left that day, you realized he had a good day,” Sawvel said. “You also saw his mom wiping away tears and you realized the gravity of it.”

On June 24, Sawvel received the text from Horpestad he was dreading. It read:

“Hi Jay. I wanted to let you know that Brody gained his angel wings last night. If you can ask your boys to hit a little harder this season, he will be looking down smiling knowing they are doing their job.”

Sawvel shared the heartbreaking message with the team before their morning run.

“That hit us all pretty hard. You could tell even through the warmups everyone was still very emotional about what just happened,” Bush said. “That connection, it was just one of those instant connections that’s so hard to find. I was just happy to do that.”

Brody’s zeal for life and kindness impacted the extended Cowboy family.

UW safeties coach Jason Petrino’s son, Patrick, played basketball and football with Brody at Laramie Middle School and soaked up every second of his friend’s recruiting visit.

“He's probably one of the nicest kids I've ever met,” Patrick Petrino said. “Obviously people when playing sports still smack talk, but even playing some of our rivals, he'll always be like telling other teams, ‘Good job.’ In the classroom, he's always helping kids with doing their work. He was always a person that cheers someone up. He always would make my day if I was having a bad day, and he just knew how to act around people to make them have a better day. …

“I was lucky enough to be with him that day, and I know it was nothing but smiles. I think he really enjoyed it.”

Brody met Frank Crum, another big football-loving Laramie boy, during his playing days with the Pokes. The Denver Broncos offensive linemen returned home and spent time with Brody at his bedside in the hospital this summer.

“Brody’s impact on our community was profound,” Crum said. “He didn’t count his time; he made his time count. I remember meeting Brody as a young boy who was always big and had an uncommon drive to be a great human and athlete. He made an impact in my life that positivity can be found in some of the worst situations.

“To model after Brody is a large feat we should all try and embody.”

A celebration of Brody’s life will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Foundation Builders Community Center in Laramie. The family requests mourners wear orange or pink to honor him. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to Jason's Friends Foundation in Casper.

Follow Ryan for more stories on Wyoming athletics on X at @By_RyanThorburn on Facebook at Wyoming Athletics and Instagram at wyoathletics. Also follow him at Pokes Insider at Gowyo.com/pokesinsider.
 
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