Danny Fowler was thrilled to be joining his brother Brendan Fowler, just a year after the latter helped Duke lacrosse win the 2013 national championship and received the game’s Most Outstanding Player award in doing so.

But what Fowler didn’t know at the time was that he would not only be following his brother into the Duke lacrosse program, but the football one as well.

Brendan Fowler, a two-time United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association All-American who set the NCAA single-season faceoff record with 339 victories at the X in 2013, played linebacker and special teams for Duke football. Brendan Fowler played both sports in his first three years at Duke, solely lacrosse in his senior year, then wrestled this year as a graduate student.

Now his younger brother, a backup goalie, has played in six of the Blue Devils’ eight games after appearing in two games on special teams for the football team this past fall.

“Football is in our blood,” Fowler said, “and when I got the chance to put the pads on too, I took it.”

Duke lacrosse head coach John Danowski said Fowler is the fifth player during the head coach’s eight years at the program to play both sports and he encourages players to do so if they’re capable.

While some wonder how talented Fowler would be focusing on one sport, his older brother and Danowski agree that he’s better for it.

“Football has given me more confidence and helped me play more aggressively in goal,” Fowler said. “I wouldn’t trade the experiences and skills I’ve gained playing football for anything.”

Though Danowski originally recruited Fowler to play lacrosse, the sophomore thought about joining the football team throughout his freshman year. After both of the Fowler brothers returned home last summer, they sat down together to talk about what it was like to play two sports.

In between football and lacrosse, Brendan Fowler usually only allowed himself a few days before starting to make the transition between sports. He told Fowler just how hard the commitment would be.

“To be a student-athlete and play one D-I sport is a full-time job,” Brendan Fowler said. “To play two, honestly, it’s crazy.”

Football requires short bursts of explosive speed and lacrosse requires more constant movement. The adjustment period to get in shape was tough, Brendan Fowler said, and the in-season schedule for either sport left little room for free time to practice the other.

A lot of preparation, playbook memorization and depth chart organization occur during spring football practices and Fowler would miss fall lacrosse practices as well. Still, he was undeterred by all of the competitive disadvantages he would face.

“With Brendan able to accomplish it through everything,” Fowler said, “it then became a possibility for me.”

Coaches of both programs gave Fowler full support behind his decision. Brendan Fowler thinks Fowler is a better athlete than he is and that athleticism helped him hold his own on the lacrosse field and the gridiron.

Growing up, Fowler channeled that natural athleticism to keep up with Brendan Fowler and his friends playing lacrosse and football in the Fowlers’ backyard. Brendan Fowler even remembers one occasion his younger brother was in second grade and playing “incredibly well” at goalie for his sixth-grade lacrosse team in a tournament.

Fowler said the transition was easier than he thought it would be and Danowski is happy with the contributions from his backup goalie.

Even though he never got the chance to step onto the field with Brendan Fowler at Duke, Fowler looks up to his older brother and is honored to follow in his footsteps.

“I absolutely see Brendan’s influence on Danny,” Danowski said. “When you look at Brendan Fowler, he’s going to leave Duke with eight varsity letters, four in lacrosse, three in football and one in wrestling. Danny could leave with a similar legacy.”

Published on March 21, 2015 at 4:24 pm

Contact Liam: lpsull01@syr.edu