Las Vegas Raiders tight end Brock Bowers returns to Georgia to graduate in four years

A year after opting to leave early for the NFL, where he was drafted by the Las Vegas Raiders as the 13th overall selection in the 2024 NFL Draft, former Georgia superstar Brock Bowers returned to Athens to officially graduate on Friday. Bowers walked during UGA’s Terry College of Business commencement ceremony Friday, with his mother DeAnna Bowers sharing the moment on X/Twitter.

Despite leaving school after just three years on campus, Bowers still graduated from Georgia in four years, earning his bachelor’s degree in Finance after finishing his remaining coursework this Spring. Bowers skipped voluntary workouts with the Raiders to complete his degree in time.

He did it! 🎓 pic.twitter.com/htJGyZfPfb

— DeAnnaEarsleyBowers (@dew1162) May 9, 2025

Bowers set the NFL record for most receptions from a rookie with 112 catches for 1,194 receiving yards and five touchdowns in 2024, and is looking to build off his Pro Bowl-worthy rookie season in 2025. That came after back-to-back John Mackey Award-winning seasons as college football’s top tight end. The unanimous 2023 All-American capped his three-year Georgia career after tallying 175 career receptions for 2,538 yards and 26 receiving touchdowns to go along with five rushing scores between 2021-23.

Bowers was also a key part of the Bulldogs’ back-to-back national championship teams in 2021 and 2022. His biggest year was in 2022 as a sophomore when he had 63 receptions for 943 yards and seven touchdowns while taking nine carries for 109 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. As a freshman in 2021, he set a career-high with 13 touchdowns.

Rob Gronkowski says Brock Bowers is an ‘absolute savage’

Rob Gronkowski loved what Brock Bowers did during his rookie season with the Las Vegas Raiders. The four-time Super Bowl champion tight end spoke to On3 before Super Bowl LIX and shared his thoughts on Bowers who caught 112 passes for 1,195 yards and five touchdowns in 2024.

“Brock Bowers is an absolute savage,” Rob Gronkowski told On3. “What I like most about him is that he has such reliable hands, wherever the ball is thrown, he’s like a vacuum, he’ll go and get that ball. And then he’s got such great yards after the catch as well, he pummels through defenders and he makes those defensive backs in and safeties tackle him. So I just love his game overall, especially how crisp his routes are as well.”

Now, Bowers will get ready for his second NFL season – and the offense is going to transform around him. Geno Smith is now in Las Vegas after coming over in a trade with the Seattle Seahawks, and former Ohio State OC Chip Kelly is the new offensive coordinator under first-year coach Pete Carroll.

The Raiders also added one of the draft’s top playmakers with the No. 6 overall pick, selecting former Boise State star Ashton Jeanty, who finished as the runner-up in the Heisman Trophy voting to two-way star Travis Hunter. Jeanty was widely considered the top running back in a loaded class at the position after totaling 2,601 yards and 29 touchdowns while leading Boise State to the College Football Playoff.

— On3’s Brian Jones and Nick Schultz contributed to this report.