Bob Rowe had dreamed of being a professional football player ever since he was a kid.

“Most kids forget ambitions of being a pro football player about the time they suffer their first split lip,” Rowe said in a 1970 story in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “Seeing blood may give them ideas of being a doctor.”

But not Rowe.

“I always had my sights on playing pro ball.”

His dream came true when the St. Louis Cardinals selected the 245-pound defensive tackle in the 2nd round of the 1967 NFL Draft.

“I was sort of surprised going that high,” the modest Rowe said in a 1970 interview in the The Flint Journal. “There were a lot of good linemen available, like Bubba Smith, and I just hoped to be drafted.

“I’ve always been a Lions fan ever since I was a kid,” the Michigan native said. “I sort of hoped they would draft me.”

Rowe was a standout in both football and basketball at Flushing (MI) High School, but no scholarship offers came his way. Determined to keep playing, he enrolled at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo to pursue his college football dream.

“I was a walk-on,” he said.

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