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Don’t underestimate Dean Lowry’s speed.
Lowry, who played defensive end at Northwestern from 2012-2015, scored his first professional touchdown on Sunday afternoon, grabbing a Jameis Winston fumble out of the air and returning it 62 yards for a score. And you know he had to culminate it with a Lambeau Leap.
WHAT A PLAY! @DeanLowry94 takes the fumble 62 yards to the HOUSE! #TBvsGB #GoPackGo pic.twitter.com/ChpBUmBY7d
— Green Bay Packers (@packers) December 3, 2017
Lowry has been a key cog at defensive end for the Packers in his second season, although his impact rarely shows up on the stat sheet. This had to feel good for the 6-foot-6, 300-pound lineman from Rockford, Illinois, who never got into the end zone during his four years at Northwestern. (Correction: Lowry did score a touchdown at NU, snagging a pick-six against Maine back in 2013.)
Current NU defensive tackle Tyler Lancaster took notice:
OKAY DEAN https://t.co/YtSgyPghhD
— Tyler Lancaster (@BigLanny6767) December 3, 2017
Lowry’s journey to touchdown-scoring NFL starter wasn’t typical. He was just a two-star recruit coming out of high school, but worked his way up the depth chart in Evanston and ended up being selected in the fourth round of the 2016 draft.
Northwestern’s few current NFL players haven’t had a ton of success of late, which makes this even more awesome. Our beloved hero Trevor Siemian was benched for a while by the Denver Broncos; he’s now starting again, but things aren’t exactly going great. He threw two picks in the first half of the Broncos’ game against the Miami Dolphins, including a pick-six.
✖️✖️✖️✖️@Iamxavienhoward with the PICK SIX! pic.twitter.com/ukZiwkpQA6
— Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) December 3, 2017
This has to be the first NFL touchdown for a former Northwestern player other than Siemian in a while, right? Help me out in the comments if you can remember the last one.