Todd Bowles has fulfilled a promise he made to his late mother, Joan, that he would earn his college degree.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach walked across the stage at Mount St. Mary's University on Saturday 37 years after leaving school to enter the NFL.

Bowles missed the second day of Buccaneers rookie camp to attend the ceremony in Emmitsburg, Maryland, where he addressed the graduating class and earned a standing ovation. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in youth and community development.

"This is an amazing, amazing thing for me to be in a class with you," he told the students. "I'm more nervous now than I ever was speaking in a locker room at halftime."

Bowles left Temple University in 1986 to enter the NFL. Joan died of cancer in 2009. Bowles was encouraged by his agent, Tony Agnone, a Mount St. Mary's alumnus, to return to school, and he completed his coursework in September.

"It was personal. It's not a limelight type of deal for me," Bowles said. "It's more or less honoring my mother and making sure I kept a promise that I could live with when she said something. And that's really all it was for me. And showing my kids at the same time -- with one in college, one getting ready to go to college and another one on the horizon -- hopefully they get some inspiration from this and it can help them as they go forward."