Reggie Fowler
Reggie Fowler was born Reginald Dennis Fowler in February, 1959, to Al and Eloise Fowler – one of five children.[1] Reggie is an African-American businessman who currently resides in Chandler, Arizona. He is the owner of Chandler-based Spiral, Inc. and Kyrene OEM, LLC (formerly OEM Logistics, Inc.) in nearby Tempe.
When his father, Al, retired from the U.S. Air Force, he moved the family Tucson, Arizona where he opened a restaurant called Al's Pit Bar-B-Que – Reggie worked as a dishwasher there. The original location was to become the setting for the 1974 Scorsese film, Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. After his family relocated to the east side of town, Reggie attended Magee Jr. High School and later Sahuaro High School, where he played football, as did his brother, Jeff.
Reggie graduated from Sahuaro in 1977 and left Tucson to attend the University of Wyoming on a football scholarship. There he started out as a running back, the position he played in high school, but later switched to wide receiver and linebacker positions. He graduated in December, 1981, with a Bachelor's degree in Social Work. Though he was not drafted, he attended training camp for the Cincinnati Bengals but was cut from the team before the beginning of the season.
When the USFL was formed in 1983, Fowler was selected to play for the Arizona Wranglers but played sparingly as a reserve linebacker. He saw action in the last 6 games of the 1983 season - last playing on Sunday, July 3rd in Pontiac Michigan. The Wranglers transferred the majority of its rostered players to the Chicago Blitz in September of 1983, however, Fowler was not part of the transaction and released. He took business courses at Arizona State University, then took a job with Mobil Oil's chemical division, where he worked in sales. He left that position to start Spiral in 1989, reportedly with an initial investment of only $1000.[1]
Reggie was inducted into the Sahuaro High School Alumni (Cougar Foundation) Hall of Fame in 1998.[2]
Fowler is one of a group of investors, led by Zygmunt Wilf, who purchased the NFL's Minnesota Vikings from previous owner, Red McCombs, in 2005. He initially sought to be the general partner himself, thereby becoming the first minority owner of an NFL franchise, but withdrew his bid when he could not provide details about his stake in the ownership group. Instead, he became a limited partner in the group so that he would not lose his $20 million deposit. A very private man, he has not publicly disclosed any information about his financial situation to the media. In October 2014, Fowler was no longer a limited partner of the Minnesota Vikings. Fowler’s admission of default came during a legal deposition in late August in Phoenix. He lost control of his companies when a receivership was affirmed Oct. 16 in Maricopa County Superior Court after U.S. Bank obtained a judgment against him. U.S. Bank claimed Fowler’s companies had accumulated $6 million in unpaid debts to it and at least $53 million in debts to other banks.