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Stowers is back to work and hasn't changed who he is. Denny Simmons, Imagn

Eli Stowers is Back to the Field After Fall-Camp Hiatus, and He's Still the Same Guy

Originally posted on Vanderbilt Commodores on SI
By Joey Dwyer | Last updated Aug 26, 2025 1:48 PM ET

Nashville—When Vanderbilt runs out of the newly-renovated tunnel and jogs on to the field to the sound of some blaring music, expect to see Eli Stowers out there with a few Bible verses taped on his arms, his pads and a full uniform.

Despite missing an extended period of fall camp, Stowers says not to count him out from playing on Saturday as he opens his last dance as a college football player.

“It’s looking like I’m gonna play this weekend,” Stowers said Tuesday as he met the media in a press conference that felt more like an ‘I’m back’ statement than a scheduled interview. “I feel really good, so just getting prepared for Charleston Southern and locking in all the next few practices we got.”

Stowers says he was able to get back to practice over the weekend after sitting out from August 4 until the end of fall camp with an injury that Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea feared could hold his tight end out until close to the Charleston Southern game.

The plan had always been to hold Stowers out in order to preserve his health for a full season, but he missed more time than initially anticipated throughout the fall. Now he’s back to work and isn’t pulling any punches.

“Honestly just playing free,” Stowers said of the key to staying healthy. “When you start playing timid and not playing like yourself, that’s when you get hurt. So, I really just got to go out there, play free, play like myself. The rest is really in God’s hands.”

Stowers owes that to himself after walking around at Vanderbilt’s practice sessions each day in Nike Metcon 9’s rather than cleats for a long stretch of fall camp, though. He’s got to be himself regardless of the opponent.

Perhaps Stowers didn’t have to learn that–or much of anything–while working out off to the side throughout Vanderbilt’s practices, but a guy wired like the Vanderbilt tight end was looking to do anything that he could in order to make the most of the cards he had been dealt. He felt as if anything else would have been unfair.

“It’s unfortunate,” Stowers said of his absence. “But, I’ve been able to be locked in all of fall camp, just trying to get mental reps as best I can. It’s a blessing that I was able to get back this weekend and get back into practice.”

Perhaps Stowers won’t be out there as much on Saturday as he would be in a higher-stakes game setting–particularly if Vanderbilt gets out to a lead that the 36.5-point spread indicates is possible–but he’s taking Saturday as seriously as he has any game.

It’s one of just 12 guaranteed opportunities that the preseason First-Team All-American has left as a college football player. Any one that he wastes, he may regret. The Vanderbilt tight end says that there’s not added pressure at this point, though.

If he gave in to any proverbial pressure or hype, he may lose what made him successful so quickly at this level as he was named a First-Team All-SEC player in his first year. So as you see Stowers running around on Saturday, know that not much has changed since his last time out there.

He’s still not on social media. He’s still going to The Church at Avenue South each weekend. He’s still trying to take it rep-by-rep as he works to improve his blocking. That’s Eli Stowers and that’s who will be out there at tight end for Vanderbilt on Saturday.

“We got a whole new season to start,” Stowers said. “I just got to continue to focus and play every single snap to the best of my ability.”

This article first appeared on Vanderbilt Commodores on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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