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Name: Bob Baumhower
Alma Mater: University of Alabama
Sport: Football
Position: Defensive tackle
Years Played: 1974-1976
Highlights: All-SEC and Second Team All-American 1975-1976, member of two SEC Championship teams, 1977 NFL Rookie of the Year, member of two Super Bowl teams, five-time Pro Bowl selection
Business: Baumhower's Wings Restaurant (restaurant management company), Daphne, Ala. |
As a defensive tackle for the University of Alabama football team from 1974 to 1976, Baumhower was a three-year letterman and a member of two SEC Championship teams. He received All-SEC honors and was named second team All-American in 1975 and 1976 while playing for the Crimson Tide.
In 1977, Baumhower was drafted to play nose tackle for the Miami Dolphins. Highlights of his 11 years with the Dolphins include selection as the 1977 Rookie of the Year, two Super Bowl appearances and five Pro Bowl selections.
Now retired from professional football, Baumhower is the owner of Baumhower's Wings Restaurant, a restaurant management company that manages several restaurants across Alabama. The business got its start with Baumhower's flagship restaurant, Wings Sports Grille, which was founded in 1981 on the University of Alabama campus as a small quick-service restaurant. The popular sports and Buffalo wings venue has since grown into eight full-service locations in Alabama.
Baumhower also manages Mango's on the Island, in Orange Beach, Ala., and Calypso Joe's, with locations on the Alabama Gulf Coast and in Birmingham, Ala. His most recent restaurant concept is Wingfingers, a quick-service wings restaurant that opened in 2002 in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
In his spare time, Baumhower is a volunteer for Big Brothers, Big Sisters. As a former athlete now running a small business, the business manager who calls his employees team members sees many parallels between competing as an SEC athlete and living life as an entrepreneur.
"My biggest strengths come from the principles of leadership and discipline that I experienced playing under Coach Paul 'Bear' Bryant and Coach Don Shula," says Baumhower. "These principles have served me well in the business world."