Source: Daily_Mail
EXCLUSIVE: Bowyer - I'm not a thug, I'm not a racist and I'm no Joey Barton
Lee Bowyer pauses in the doorway, asking if he's in the right place.
That's right - that Lee Bowyer.
Bowyer the troublemaker, Bowyer the racist, Bowyer the nutcase, Bowyer the bully.
But that was a different day. A few yesterdays ago. Not today.
No, today he's Bowyer the new dad, Bowyer the Blue, Bowyer the shattered after a week of double-sessions.
'My record isn't that bad,' he said.
'If you are talking about football. There have been a lot worse. I've not done stuff like Patrick Vieira or Roy Keane. It's just the way it is.
'Do I think it is blown out of proportion? Yes. The slightest thing I do is exaggerated. Someone else will do a two-footed tackle and the pundits will say: 'He's mis-timed it.' If I do it, the same people say: 'Ban him for life.'
'It's one rule for me and one rule for everyone else. For instance, I still don't know whether I'm banned. I was sent-off one match before the end of the season for Birmingham when I was on loan here.
'It carries a three-match suspension. Birmingham had one game left. I went back to West Ham who had three. Apparently, I could have played for West Ham but I think I'm banned, so I don't even attempt to play. Now I've got to sit out two more games here. I think it's personal. But it's just the way it is.
'It does gripe. I've made mistakes. I've never denied that. If I've been sent-off, I'll take my punishment. Everyone makes mistakes. But I see others doing the same and they aren't as harshly treated as me.'
A question about Joey Barton elicits the response, "I'm not talking about Joey because I don't know him, but he's been to prison twice, hasn't he? That's nothing like me."
Of course, being caught up in an incident with Jonathan Woodgate nine years ago when an Asian student suffered injury pushed Bowyer over the edge. Before that, he had been competitive, irksome or even annoying. Mainly to opposition supporters.
At Leeds he was twice voted the player-of-the-season. Those notoriously difficult Elland Road fans don't bestow praise on anyone lightly. He must have earned it.
But that fracas pushed him over the edge. It had gone too far - and his reputation was stained - even though he was found not guilty on every charge. However, it continues to dog him.
'My family are important to me and some of the stuff that was said and written was very personal. But people believe it.
'They don't know what sort of person I am. I was attacked pretty badly. I didn't think it was fair, especially as I was found not guilty. That's what hurts me the most.
'I'll walk down the street and people will say: 'Here's that racist thug.'
'I've never been a racist. I'm not a thug. When I've played football I've been competitive and sometimes, I'll admit, I've over-stepped the mark. I know that. But that's just the way I play. The game's changed. But I've not - not in the way I play, anyway.
The dark side: Lee Bowyer and Kieron Dyer come to blows during the FA Barclays Premiership match between Newcastle United and Aston Villa at St James Park on April 2, 2005
'The thing that does me the most is that I'm labelled a racist. I've got Asian frriends, I've got African friends. I've got mates who come from every nation you can think of. How could I be a racist growing up on an estate where there are people from every different race on the planet? I never had any issues.
'I think the problem was that I was found not guilty. Maybe that was the thing. Everyone else was found guilty of something or another. People couldn't have a pop at me because of that, so they would pick on something else.'
It's possibly because of that competitive nature that he became embroiled in the second high-profile moment of his career. The date was April 2005. The occasion was a home Premier League match for Newcastle against Aston Villa.
The image of Bowyer and Kieron Dyer trading punches on the St James's Park pitch remains ingrained on every football fan's memory, notwithstanding the fact that the former was later successfully prosecuted for public order offences.
'It wasn't right, but it happens on a training pitch near enough every week,' he said. 'It was nothing personal. It was unfortunate it was on the pitch.'
