As a multi-sport athlete at Kathleen High School and at the University of Florida, David Bowden has one of the most impressive track records of any athlete in Polk County history.  Whether it was in baseball or football, Bowden was at the top of his field in each sport.  Bowden is still one of the most accomplished football players in Kathleen High history.  As a sophomore, he led the team to the State Championship Game.  As a junior, he led the 1969 team to an undefeated season.  As a senior in 1970, Bowden was named to the All-South First Team, All-State First Team, and was a Sunkist All-American, when he passed for 2,372 yards and 39 touchdowns.  During his time at Kathleen from 1968-70, he set state records for career passing yards (6,623) and career touchdown passes (91) that stood for years. 

Bowden was also a standout baseball player at Kathleen, his most memorable moment being in his very last at-bat as a Red Devil, he hit a walk-off homerun against Lakeland High School to give Kathleen a 1-0 win over their arch rival. 

David went on to play both football and baseball at the University of Florida.  As a football player, he broke nearly all of the Gators’ freshman passing records that were previously held by Steve Spurrier and John Reeves.  In baseball, he was a four-year letterman, where he played all of the middle infielder positions over the course of his career.  He was named to the All-SEC team twice and was voted by teammates as the Gators’ MVP.  He went on to be drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 1975 Major League Baseball Draft. 

Bowden went on to become a successful coach at Bucholz High School in Gainesville, where he coached for seven years.  In 2007, as part of its celebration of “100 Years of Florida High School Football”, the FHSAA named David to its list of the “100 Greatest Players of the First 100 Years”.