Owens hoping to catch on

By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

A team could save everyone else a lot of time and aggravation by selecting former University of Hawai'i receiver/returner Chad Owens in this weekend's National Football League draft.

Chad Owens, who is 5 feet 7 1/2 and 180 pounds, walked on at UH, earned a scholarship and became a star through hard work. Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser

It was that way when a pre-teen Owens tagged along with his cousin, Danny Pacheco, to Booth Park and Pauoa Gym.

"I was the little kid trying to hang out with the older crowd," Owens recalled. Eventually, he was invited to join Pacheco and his friends in basketball games.

"I was always in there, the little scrappy guy," Owens said. "They loved it because I never quit."

In August 2000, Owens was permitted to join the UH football team as a non-scholarship player. Twice a day, the Warriors provide all-you-can-scarf meals to football players on scholarship.

Owens bought his own meal plan, and sat side by side with teammates during breakfast and dinner.

"Even if I was a walk-on, I wasn't any different," Owens said. "I went to practice the same time they did, and I put on the same jerseys, and I did the same things."

At 5 feet 7 1/2 and 180 pounds, Owens overcame perceptions that he was too small for the sport. After returning a kickoff and punt for touchdowns against then-unbeaten Brigham Young in the 2001 season finale, Owens earned a scholarship. The adopted player had become the favorite son.

UH coach June Jones has marveled at Owens' perseverance. "He works very hard," Jones said.

That perpetual pilot light helped Owens earn a bachelor's degree in nine semesters and receive invitations to the East West Shrine Game in San Francisco and the NFL combine for pro prospects in Indianapolis.

Owens showed his strength at the combine, bench pressing 225 pounds 23 times, with a maximum bench of 370.

He sprinted 40 yards in a pedestrian 4.6 seconds, although he does not believe that time will diminish his draft value.

"I've got some game speed," Owens said, noting the 40-yard sprint is not an accurate predictor of football skill. "You don't play the game in a straight line. You never do."

That is true of Owens, whose improvised pirouettes and cutbacks resulted in five punt returns for touchdowns last season.

Besides, at a "Pro Day" in California last month, Owens ran 40 yards in 4.5 seconds.

"It was raining, and I was sick, but that's football," Owens said. "You have guys gifted with speed, but I tell everyone, 'I do what I do with what I've got.' "

Jones said several NFL teams have inquired about Owens. "If somebody needs a return guy," Jones said, "he would be the one."

In football, a player is described by drawing a comparison to another player. Jones said Owens "has a little of Dante Hall" — the Kansas City Chiefs' All-Pro returner — "from the quickness standpoint, but Chad is not as fast."

Jones said Owens also should be considered as a team's third or fourth receiver. Jones said if he still were an NFL head coach, "I would certainly make sure (Owens) found a way on the field as a receiver. I think he can do it."

As UH's left slotback, Owens repeatedly ran patterns in front of larger safeties and linebackers. His early season drops were in the open field, indicating lapses in concentration, but he never fumbled after a hard hit.

He also has played despite several injuries, including a torn ligament in his toe that made it impossible to run without grimacing during the 2003 season.

"I've been through some adversity, but everybody has," Owens said. "Football is not a walk in the park. It's not like golf. It's a contact sport. You enter at your own risk. When injuries or other things happen, you have to bounce back."

Owens said being selected in the draft would be "the icing on the cake, the finish line, whatever cliche you want to use."

He has a college degree, and is raising two children with the only woman he has ever loved.

"We were together since we were 12 years old," Owens said of his wife, Rena.

Their first "date" was to Booth Park, where they played two-on-two basketball. It was Owens and Blake Harano against Rena and a friend.

"I accidentally bumped her and she fell on the ground and got a scratch on her knee," Owens said. "I was so shocked, I didn't know what to do. She stood back up and was smiling and kept on playing. She didn't say anything about it. I found out later she was thinking, 'Sheesh, he didn't even help me up.' "

Rena said she found Owens' energetic style appealing. "He was active," she said. "I liked that."

Owens, who sometimes wears his wedding ring during workouts, added: "Everything I've experienced in my life, she's been right there. The draft ... it's something we're going to go through together. This will be for both of us."

Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8051.