Ramaud Chiaokhiao-Bowman exclusive: Northwestern's dancing barber cooking up an NFL dream

They don't come around like Ramaud Chiaokhiao-Bowman too often. A background of small football markets means you may be unfamiliar with the name - the pronunciation of which he gets quizzed on regularly - but a mere 30 minutes in his presence is all that is needed to verify a special personality.

Former Northwestern team-mate and potential first-round Draft pick Greg Newsome previously labelled him as 'unique', insisting there was no 'one thing' he could describe Bowman as.

"Greg, much appreciated, always dishing out the kind words," jokes the wide receiver in an interview with Sky Sports.

"It kind of goes to show what I'm about, what I strive to be and who I'm continuously working to be which is somebody that can be relied on, good character, hard working dude, personable.

"I was always taught that if you want to be a leader you've got to lead yourself first. For me it was always important for my energy to be straight, be in tune with what I'm about to do. If I'm going to be trying to get somebody else right, am I also taking care of my energy and what I need to be doing first?"

NFL Draft predictor: Make your selections!

The 2021 NFL Draft gets underway on Thursday April 29 - and you can have a go at making your picks on who goes where.

He takes visible joy in hailing the rise of his good friend's Draft stock in recent months, which has positioned Newsome among the premier cornerbacks stepping into the NFL. At the same time, he cheekily affords himself some credit for helping shape the expertise of the man that often covered him in practice.

"He's only made me better and I've only made him better - ask him!" he adds.

Unprompted, he goes on to note offensive tackle Rashawn Slater's top 10 prospects as well as his excitement for all those coming out of Pat Fitzgerald's Northwestern family, at the heart of which has been Bowman.

Greatness can be defined in multiple ways, and while Bowman's NFL career is still yet to play out you would struggle to find an argument against the idea he is already a great teammate.

"Energy is so contagious and such a powerful tool. The power to really achieve things that maybe you can't even fathom and then also contagious in the way that it spreads exponentially."

Bowman the barber

'So, what are you looking forward to most once lockdown is over?'. It's been a prevalent question during a year ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic. Some may be desperate for a holiday while others might just want a haircut, with the closure of barbers and hair salons across the UK having seen zoom meetings play virtual stage to overgrown locks and horror DIY jobs.

Roughly 3,700 miles away, though, there were no such problems at Northwestern, where Bowman was not only running fade routes but taking ownership over his teammate's fades.

"A past teammate of mine Jaylen Prater took me under his wing when I got there and he was a senior and he was the team barber," said Bowman. "When he left I saw this void and so I stepped in to attempt to fill it, started learning and understanding the intricacies of cutting hair and the next thing you know I'm cutting it for most of the team. It turned out to be a great experience for me and a great tool to have."

In preparation for Prater's departure in 2017, Bowman set out to take on the responsibility by turning the first floor communal bathroom of Elder Hall into his workspace, using the desk chair from his dorm and taking advantage of the extra space and sinks.

His side-venture eventually relocated to the barber chair in the team's locker room in 2018, though remained as much about enhancing team relations off the field as it did about helping his colleagues look sharp.

"It was cool cutting people's hair but what I really saw from that was fellowship, an opportunity to not only get to know other teammates but it was also just a time to be together," he said.

Bowman admits there was natural pushback early on as he became accustomed to different preferences, but believes the ability for others to critique him was only a positive when it came to improving communication.

"I've learned from those guys the most, the guys that are willing to speak up and say 'hey, hey, hey, I really didn't like how you did this or that' or like 'I prefer this or that' and that's what really challenges me and continues to help me grow and keep honing in on my skills," he added.

"Dancing since I came out the womb"

It's testament to the artistry and depth of a multi-faceted individual, who, when he isn't making catches or cutting hair, can often be found throwing shapes in the locker room.

"I grew up dancing," he says. "In my head I've been dancing since I came out the womb. In my household and in my family we've just always been dancing and singing."

Bowman's charisma on the dance floor stems from a childhood growing up on his father's love of 90s hip hop, which later proved a catalyst for him playing the drums in high school and notably making the MBDA (Minnesota Band Directors Association) 9-10 Jazz Honour Band in his sophomore year.

While rhythm has been an expression of his infectious exuberance, his myriad of tattoos have been a method for reflecting that which he values the most.

Printed at the top of his right leg is the word 'obsession' to connote his resolute work ethic in all walks of life; on the back of his leg is a crystal ball enclosed by a tree to represent the future, including that of his brother Thai Chiaokhiao-Bowman; running down the front of his leg is a waterfall splashing into a Laos rice basket in tribute to his family's South East Asian roots; on his back he has a blizzardy skyline of downtown Minneapolis, below which is pictured the street he grew up on and a bridge designed to connect him and his late grandma.

"My tattoos not only reflect my personality but who I am. Things that I've been through, things my family have been through, things that I hold dear to my heart, tattoos have always been an outlet for telling my story and expressing my stuff."

"What's a Breck?"

As the body art and dancing suggest, family is big for Bowman. His mother Phet, who has relatives in South East Asia, has been a major influence on his journey, particularly when it has come to the academic side of things.

"I'll say it like this," laughs Bowman, shaking his head as he remembers the following story. "My dad and my mum have always been well-rounded in terms of 'take care of your sports, take care of your academics', it's always been important and I've always known that.

"I give that initial response because I was planning on going to a city school, a school I grew up down the street from in Washburn, to play with all my friends that I was growing up with, and then around the seventh/eighth grade my mum was like 'I'm going to send you to Breck' and I was like 'what's a Breck?'."

Breck is a high academic private school with a national reputation for 'excellence and achievement in academics, athletics, and the arts' - "like a mini Northwestern," says Bowman.

"It ended up being the best decision for me and the best experience to get out of what I was used to and learn and network and come away with family and friends from the people I've met there. It taught me a lot that I couldn't see at that moment.

"On the field things like controlling what you could control and how important that is for any sport. Also off the field, the people that I've met and still in contact with today and was throughout Northwestern I'll be able to call family for the rest of my life, so Breck was extremely special for me."

Flourishing in the unknown has helped make him the man he is today, moulding him into the leader that inspires others to express themselves.

For that, he is grateful to his mum, whose talent as a cooking "extraordinaire" Bowman carried with him to Northwestern as yet another route to galvanising his peers.

If he wasn't catching passes, cutting hair or dancing, he might have been whipping up meals for teammates in his student accommodation. He would cater to nutritional needs of a football player by serving pasta and chicken, while acknowledging specific dietary requirements by preparing dairy-free options for lactose intolerant guys as well as vegetarian options for the non-meat eaters.

"Being able to bake bread with your brothers, there's nothing like that," he said. "And also to be together at the same time, the opportunity for fellowship and just good times, a lot of good good times back.

"My mum and grandma, who passed a couple of years ago, I was always in the kitchen with them, I didn't know the skills but I was learning because it was just normal for me to be in there and helping. It's been paying off a little bit."

"I feel dangerous everywhere"

Besides serving as a leader to those around him, the Wildcats senior has also rightly taken the steps to develop his own game in view of a career in the pros.

Bowman led Northwestern with a career-high 41 catches for 508 yards and five touchdowns in eight games as Northwestern finished last season, including a career-best eight receptions for 103 yards in the 22-10 loss to Ohio State and eight for 86 and three touchdowns in a 27-20 win over Purdue.

A student of Davante Adams, Keenan Allen and Odell Beckham Jr's game film, Bowman now enters the NFL Draft as part of a strikingly deep receiver class. So in a season of scouting reports, how does he see himself?

"I feel dangerous everywhere, he said. "I would say I'm a special receiver, I'm very versatile, I can create separation, I've got quickness, I know how to handle my body, I have a big, long frame and I'm athletic as well. I can take the top off and beat you deep and I can pay attention to the minute detail underneath and make it happen.

"Also just versatile in the way that you can put me in a lot of places, not only on the outside and inside but I'm playing special teams too and I'm going to dominate at that as well.

"Lastly, just the people around me are so important, especially the way we play. One of my main objectives as well is to not only make myself better but to make those around me better. I'll be not only adding a great player, but somebody that is going to make your organisation better."

While preparing for a senior season that might have never happened due to the coronavirus, Bowman once again reminded of his leadership off the field by taking the time to speak out following the tragic death of George Floyd.

He accompanied Michigan State's Antjuan Simmons, Maryland's Chig Okonkwo and Illinois's Trevon Sidney on a virtual call to address race-related matters and the need for change in a way indicative of the voice college athletes have established over the years.

"That was extremely important for me," he said. "The courage my fellow Big 10 players showed in coming together, and also voicing their experiences and vulnerabilities which is so important as not only athletes and football players but on top of all of that, the intersection of being black, black student-athletes, black males and the importance of showing that it's okay to be vulnerability.

"Also just speaking up about life experiences, it's not just the unfortunate murder of George Floyd that happened down the street from where I grew up, but it's the fight that so many other people are experiencing, so many other black and or people of colour are experiencing similar if not the same outcomes and experiences."

He later built on his push for equality in November as he wore a shirt with rainbow pride colours to demonstrate support for the LGBTQ community ahead of game.

Behold more evidence of the man Bowman has become, and the man Northwestern will be proud to pass onto the NFL.

He recalls his debut touchdown as a freshman against Wisconsin vividly and the effort he made to file the memory safely in the back of his mind, he remembers storming the field after Northwestern's 39-10 overtime win against Michigan State later that season, he uses a gruelling 3-9 campaign in 2019 as learning material, he cherishes the emotion before, during and after his final game against Auburn, which saw him finish his Wildcats career with victory in the Citrus Bowl.

Bowman now hopes his next memory is a call during from an NFL team during Draft week.

"I would be a momentous moment for me and my family," he said. "A lot of my things up until this point have been a first for my family and not only myself, so to be able to add that to the list and reflect back on how much my family has sacrificed for me to get to that point, and those I've met along the journey before Breck, during Breck and Northwestern, it would mean a lot."

Dancing, cooking, cutting and catching his way to the NFL.

Don't forget to follow us on skysports.com/nfl, our Twitter account @SkySportsNFL & Sky Sports - on the go!