Fowler joined ESPN in July 1986 as the host/reporter of Scholastic Sports America, a stint which lasted two years. In 1988, he began serving as a college football sideline reporter for two seasons. While on the college football beat, Fowler conducted an exclusive interview with former star University of Oklahoma quarterback Charles Thompson, who was in prison at the time on drug charges.After Charles Woodson won the 1997 Heisman Trophy over Peyton Manning, Tennessee fans blamed ESPN. In a response to the Tennessee fans Fowler made a statement that the outcome created a "trailer park frenzy" in Tennessee. ESPN's popular game day program was not permitted to visit Tennessee the next season for the Tennessee-Florida game.

Prior to joining ESPN, Fowler spent nearly two years at KCNC-TV, then the NBC affiliate in Denver, as a production assistant, a producer/writer and as a sports reporter. In 1984, he worked for several months at KMGH-TV in the same city as an intern in the sports department.

A graduate of the University of Colorado in 1985 with a Bachelor of Science degree, Fowler was the first recipient of the Alan Berg Memorial Journalism Scholarship, awarded by the Denver Press Club.

While an undergraduate, Fowler, a Denver-area native, served as a producer and co-host for a weekly magazine program aired over a cable television system in Boulder, Colorado from 1983–85. He also spent two years as sports director at KAIR-AM, the university's radio station. From 1982–84, he covered high school sports for the Rocky Mountain News.