FOXBOROUGH, Mass. _ Byron Cowart was near rock bottom when he decided to write down his feelings. He vented on those pages, detailing a painful and embarrassing past.
The journal was part of the plan to get him on the right track. Cowart, a highly touted defensive lineman, was taking classes at Hillsborough Community College in Tampa, Fla., in the fall of 2017. The journal was one of his assignments and he needed to pass in order to transfer to Maryland.
"I took like 10 classes in like four months," Cowart said. "I had to be done by January. ... It was tough but ... it was like, 'OK, I can either go left and be stuck in Tampa and be the guy who almost made it, or stay focused, take these classes, grind it out, get to Maryland and do what I need to do.' "
Earlier that fall, Cowart had left Auburn University two games into his junior year. It was a disappointing end for one of the most promising players in the country. Cowart entered college as the No. 1 recruit in the nation, according to ESPN and Rivals.com. When he didn't live up to those expectations, the fans that once loved him turned on him.
It was the same with the media. All of a sudden, he found himself at the top of a new list. A story entitled "Rivals' Biggest Busts," published on Sept. 19, 2017, listed Cowart in the top spot. The story ran three days after he had played his last game at Auburn.
When he enrolled in online classes, Cowart was hurting. It was difficult to watch college football. It was hard being back at home. That journal, which counted as 20% of his grade for that class, had helped.
Now a rookie on the Patriots, Cowart still reads those pages.
"I was reading, just coming back, trying to remember what I went through to get here," Cowart said. "It was just like 'Wow.' I'm reading stuff and I'm like, 'Dang, I went through that?' It's good to reflect."
In his first NFL season, Cowart's out to rewrite his story.
