KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Chiefs wide receiver Dwayne Bowe is here to tell you that money changes everything.
It wasn't long after he signed his five-year, $56 million deal with the Chiefs last month when some folks starting getting a little too close for comfort.
"Oh, man, it's made me keep to myself a little bit more," Bowe said from the Chiefs' training facility. "You know, more people want to know about you and get close to you and see what you can do for them.
"That's made me just step back out of the light a bit."
More than ever, Bowe said he is trying to be careful whom he lets in his life.
"It's made you check who your friends really are," he said. "And you gotta change your phone number and all that. But that' all part of it. It'll be OK."
Obviously, Bowe has no regrets. The Chiefs are the team he wanted to sign with all along, even after having a few anxious moments as a free-agent.
"I really didn't think I'd be anywhere else," he said. "I just put my trust in God. With me coming here in 2007, doing the things that I did, I just really personally knew and felt like this was the place for me.
"And now everything has worked out well."
And Bowe hasn't been the only beneficiary of Chiefs owner Clark Hunt's spending spree. The Chiefs traded for quarterback Alex Smith, and signed numerous free-agents, including defensive backs Dunta Robinson and Sean Smith, wide receiver Donnie Avery, tight end Anthony Fasano and, quarterback Chase Daniel.
The Chiefs also re-signed punter Dustin Colquitt and franchised left tackle Branden Albert.
The flurry of moves duly impressed Bowe.
"We're not waiting," Bowe said. "It tells me the time to win is now. We're not waiting two years or so. With the moves they made, they want to win now."
And Bowe understands he will be expected to play like one of the top receivers in the game, now that he is being paid like one.
That means continuing to be a complete receiver, which he showed last year when he improved his blocking skills, so much so that his season ended in Cleveland when made an inspired block on a linebacker but suffered four broken ribs.
"(Blocking) is part of football and I'm not going to stop that," he said. "It's part of your job. You take what you give. I can't stop doing that."
Bowe is cautiously optimistic he might even put up some big numbers now that he has Smith throwing him the ball.
"My job is to just catch the ball no matter who throws it," Bowe said. "But it's nice to have a guy who has made a name for himself and who has proved himself. I'm sure it will make it easier."
Smith is anxious to start working with Bowe as well.
"I like what I see," Smith said. "He's a big player (6-foot-2, 221 lbs.) that makes big plays -- great receiver. He can make a lot of tough catches….obviously a big target."
And obviously, Bowe knows that wide receivers are the featured stars of new coach Andy Reid's system.
"It's refreshing, just like coming into your rookie year or your freshman year in college not knowing anybody but just knowing of them and what they can do," Bowe said of Reid and the coaching staff. "And what they did motivated me to know that Andy worked with some big-time players and also big-time quarterbacks.
"They got their receivers and quarterbacks to the next level which is the Pro Bowl and the Super Bowl."
The latter is where Bowe, soon to be 29, wants to end up.
"I got a lot of fire left in me," he said.
And apparently a lot of new admirers.
