Omare Lowe has been down this nomadic path before.

You could say the former Tahoma High star has spent a lifetime bouncing from home to home – whether in the National Football League or during a tumultuous childhood – and it would be no exaggeration.

But with each stop, the ever-resilient Lowe always has managed to put adversity aside and land on his feet.

This time, it will be a homecoming of sorts as those feet are planted within the Seattle Seahawks organization, with whom Lowe inked a one-year, $605,000 deal with in April.

The Seahawks are Lowe’s eighth organization and ninth different team since being selected out of the University of Washington by the Miami Dolphins in the fifth round of the 2002 NFL draft.

“I don’t know too many guys who’ve been through what I’ve been through,” said Lowe, 30, a 1997 Tahoma graduate who enters Monday night’s nationally televised game at San Diego slotted as a backup cornerback for the Seahawks. “I think it’s a testament to my character.”

Of course, Lowe’s character has been tested time and time again, both tragically as a child and physically as a professional athlete.

So much, in fact, that being tested has become almost a yearly rite of passage for the down-to-earth Lowe, who missed all of last season with the Atlanta Falcons with a partial tear of the patella tendon in his left knee.

In light of Lowe’s wandering NFL journey and health status, most in his shoes likely would’ve called it a career. But Lowe never has been one to succumb to adversity, big or small.

Not when he was just a backup at the University of Washington.

Not when he was signed and released three times in less than three months during the 2004 NFL season, or when he was one of Seattle’s final cuts in 2005.

And certainly not now.

“At this point, I am going to do whatever my body tells me,” said Lowe, who won a Super Bowl ring with the New England Patriots in 2005, the same season he was released by three teams and when doubt, for the first time, entered his head. “My knee feels great right now … knock on wood. But I still love the game. Sometimes, it’s a pain in the butt. But when you go out there on Sundays, there’s nothing like it.”

Nor is there anyone quite like Lowe, who has been able to bounce back to his feet more times than he has fingers and toes to count.

“He has something. I don’t know where it comes from,” said Lisa Cordier, Lowe’s adoptive mom. “It’s a gift. He never gets down. He’s been traded so much, been released and always has a good attitude. If you could bottle resilience, he’s got it.”

Life-changing jolt

Lowe has needed that resilience every step of the way.

When he was just 8 years old, Omare’s biological mother, Mona, was killed by a drunk driver. Mona’s car was t-boned in the accident, which Omare witnessed while riding in the trailing vehicle.

“It was really tough,” Lowe said, the emotion in his voice clear. “At that age, you know, but you don’t know. I didn’t want to know. The biggest thing I remember was when it happened. I cried, but I was in shock more than anything.

“I had the attitude that she’d be back in a couple days. Obviously, that wasn’t the case.”

The several years that followed were the toughest of Lowe’s young life. A time that would both challenge his resilience and, ultimately, form him into the level-headed, well-spoken and caring athlete he is today.

“When you get support and look forward at what you can do instead of looking back at what happened, you can make things happen for yourself,” Tahoma football coach Tony Davis said. “With Omare, it was amazing to watch that happen.”

Amazing indeed.

And unlikely, too, especially when considering Lowe never knew his biological father and spent time in two separate foster homes following the tragic death of his mother.

But as he has on the football field so many times during his career, Lowe’s life has been about picking himself up, something he’s accomplished with a cup-half-full mentality.

He insists, however, none of it would have been made possible without the help, structure and nurturing of Lisa and Bob Cordier, who became his legal guardians when he was 13 years old.

“At that point in my life, you could say I was a lost kid,” Lowe admitted. “I didn’t have any direction. When (Bob and Lisa) came into my life, it was really a blessing. They pretty much molded me into the person I am today.

“I owe them everything.”

The Cordiers were as much a blessing to Omare as he was to them. Bob and Lisa had been trying to have children for several years, with no luck. It wasn’t until Omare was put into Lisa’s sixth-grade class for at-risk students at Cedar River Elementary that the couple decided to adopt.

“We were trying to get pregnant and decided while we were doing that to have our names put on (an adoption) list. We weren’t looking at doing foster care,” said Lisa, who now lives in Spokane with Bob and their two adopted children, Morgan and Daniel. “Then, there was this kid we liked. Nobody wanted him and we said we weren’t going to do it unless we were going to be able to adopt him.”

That kid who nobody wanted was Omare Lowe.

At the time, Lisa and Bob saw a child with a world of potential, but little direction and a chip on his shoulder.

“My belief was, he’s a good kid,” said Bob, who played football in the early ‘80s at the University of Montana. “With some good direction, he was going to be fine. It was a challenging time for us.

“He saved us, as well.”

The couple, both of whom grew up playing sports, had no idea they were taking in a future professional athlete.

“He was just a skinny kid,” Bob recalled. “But when he got to high school and stepped onto the field, there was no question that something was going on.”

Something definitely was going on.

Plenty of versatility

Pick your season, and chances were that Omare was doing something most others could not.

A two-time All-Pierce County League selection at quarterback, Lowe rushed for a team-high 907 yards and 17 touchdowns during his senior season.

But basketball was his first love.

“I still have hoop dreams even now,” the 6-foot-1, 195-pound cornerback said with a laugh. “I always wanted to play in the NBA, but I wasn’t tall enough.”

That height disadvantage didn’t slow him down as a senior in the winter of 1997 when he led the Bears to the state boys basketball playoffs – a place they haven’t been since. And it continued during that spring, when he won three state track titles at the old Class AA (now 3A) classification, sweeping both hurdles races and running a leg on Tahoma’s championship 1,600 relay team.

“He was at a different level. We just let him do his thing,” Davis remembered. “Give him the ball and get out of the way.”

For all Lowe has accomplished during and since high school, he still remembers his roots, and clings to the faint memories of his biological mom. Just before his second season in the NFL, Omare purchased a headstone for Mona, something his family couldn’t afford at the time of her death.

“I just wanted to make sure she was taken care of so when me and my sister (Tamara) go out there, we know where she’s at,” Omare says. “My family, financially at the time, wasn’t able to take care of that.”

All these years later, the memories remain tough.

“It was my mom,” Omare said. “She gave birth to me and I loved her for the eight years I knew her. I wish I would have had a few more years.

“I guess everything happens for a reason.”

Just as there are plenty of reasons Lowe’s nomadic NFL journey has led him back to Seattle.

Homeward bound

Being closer to family and friends, of course, was paramount in his decision to sign with the Seahawks. So was the opportunity to play under assistant head coach Jim Mora, who was with Lowe during his three seasons in Atlanta.

For Lisa and Bob, simply being close enough to attend some of Omare’s games rather than watch them on DirecTV is a bonus.

“This is a thrill,” Bob said. “He gets drafted by Miami, goes to New York (Jets), New England … could he find any further points from the state of Washington to play football? It will be incredible to be able to go to more games.”

Lowe, however, is viewing it much like he has viewed everything else in his life.

“In this league, it’s all about opportunity,” he said. “I’ve been with so many teams and in so many cities … but the best thing is, I’m comfortable.”

And, after a long, winding, up-and-down journey, he’s home.