Exposing the LASIK Scam

PFW: I read that you had Lasik surgery three weeks before the Scouting Combine.

Bowman: Yeah, that?s true. I had an incident this summer where I had gotten bleach in my eyes using a teammate?s eye drops. It started making my vision worse by the day because it was scarring my eyes, so I needed to get it re-done. I did it right after the Senior Bowl, knowing that I had almost three weeks before the Combine. And it didn?t go as well as I thought. But the incident happened in July or August, 2007 and it was too close to the season to get it done then, so I had to wear these contacts. And they helped a little bit, but I still needed to get the surgery done.

PFW: How did that affect your performance at the Combine?

Bowman: I couldn?t really see that well, because after having it done for the second time, one of (my eyes) didn?t heal correctly, so I couldn?t really see at the Combine. So I wasn?t going to attempt to catch anything because I couldn?t see. I just told coaches and GMs that I would catch at my pro day.

PFW: Did the league?s coaches and GMs ask you about that in interviews, or about your character following the UNC situation?

Bowman: They were OK with the surgery because they knew I would be ready on my pro day. And I think I had a good pro day, so it all worked out. But in the interviews they basically just ask me how things have been going ever since then, or if it still affects me today, and I tell them that everything?s good and that it?s really turned my life around. I?ve put it all behind me, and it?s something I can?t change, so I don?t worry about it anymore.

Bowman was not great at picking out deep balls, especially when working in traffic. The reason for this was believed to have been 20/900 vision, which resulted in LASIK corrective surgery to fix the problem before the 2007 season. Prior to this he had worn contacts to improve the problem. However, a lack of concentration was still a problem for him last year. Of the 108 passes targeted to him, he missed 30 of them with 11 being deflected. He was also off at the Senior Bowl workouts as dropped passes were a big problem for him. For someone who has value as a short-to-mid range receiver, he needs to improve on this if he wants to succeed at the next level.

His lack of speed is a concern for NFL teams. At the Combine he ran only a 4.74 40-yard dash. Bowman blamed it on a lack of conditioning as he was recovering from another LASIK surgery underwent in January.