As a senior football player, he was a Super Prep high school All-American selection and a USA Today All-America honorable mention, named the Jacksonville Defensive Player of the Year, and won first-team all-state honors, and helped lead the Mustangs to the district championship in the state playoffs.
In 1995, he led FSU in tackles in with 115 (76 solo), finishing sixth in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) in that category.
Returning in 1997 after a knee injury that kept him out of the 1996 season, Cowart earned consensus first-team All-American recognition, leading the team with 116 tackles.
Before he was cut down by injuries, Cowart, was a sideline-to-sideline force on a playmaking par with Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis.
Cowart was the Pro Bowl heart of Buffalo's defense until he was chopped down by Frank Middleton, a Tampa Bay Buccaneers guard, resulting in a severe ankle injury that ended his 2000 season after 12 games.
"He and Ray Lewis were the best linebackers in the league before Sam suffered that Achilles' injury," said Ted Cottrell, Cowart's defensive coordinator for the Bills from 1998 to 2000.