David Alter
CFL.ca
When Chad Owens arrived in Toronto in late June via trade with Montreal, too late to even be included in the club’s media guide, only the coaching staff knew what they had. Fans had seen the highlight reels on YouTube and watched him in action in the final game of the 2009 season at Rogers Centre – serendipitous that his first-ever CFL game was in Toronto. He was an unknown commodity in the big city but by season’s end, when the team moved practices to a nearby high school in Oakville, it was Owens that the students poured out of class to watch.
His journey to Edmonton, Alberta for Thursday night’s CFL Outstanding Player Awards show was long, and at times painful, but it brings him back to the province where his CFL fortunes first began to change. After all, it was in Calgary, Alberta where Argos fans began to understand what the coaching staff already knew.
Owens would start the year with an incredible 90-yard punt return touchdown in the season opener in Calgary where he made an immediate impression on new head coach Jim Barker.
“That touchdown run by Chad Owens was one of the best I had ever seen in the league,” said Barker. “That was just heart.”
One week later, Owens was instrumental in helping the Argos grab their first win when he took an Alexis Serna missed 45-yard field goal and returned the ball back all the way to the house. This effort earned Owens his very first Gibson’s Finest CFL Special Teams Player of the Week honour.
The following week Owens was a runner-up for the same award when he helped the Argos extend their lead to a crucial field goal margin, after snagging the reception on a two-point conversion.
Taking on his former team, Owens won his very first Gibson’s Finest Offensive Player of the Week honour after making six catches for an unbelievable 163 yards as well as two touchdown receptions. Owens showed at this point what he can do as an all-purpose football player.
Week 12 against Winnipeg, Owens notched his third return for a touchdown, helping the Argos grab another win. He’d be awarded with another Special Teams Player of the Week award.
Owens would go on to win the award three more times for a total of five on the year – three times he was voted as the unanimous winner. The honours would also help Owens grab the Gibson’s Finest Special Teams Player of the Month for September and October.
With the Argos season coming to a grinding halt at the hands of the Alouettes in the CFL Eastern Final, it will be Chad Owens heading to Edmonton without his teammates where it’s almost a certainty he will be named the CFL’s top special teams player.
Owens amassed over 1,000 punt return yards and 1,000 kickoff return yards for the season, becoming just the fifth player in CFL history to do so.
The consummate professional Owens is, it pains him that he won’t be in Edmonton with a Grey Cup on the line. “I was hoping to be able to go there (Edmonton) with my teammates. It’s hard,” says Owens. “You wanna be there so bad playing in that game and you had every chance to be there and we fell short. It’s hard, but hopefully Montreal and Saskatchewan provide an entertaining game like they did last year.”
Owens heads into the option year of his contract, but insists he wants to stay in Toronto to build on what they’ve accomplished together with a new group of players. Owens would become the second Argos player in three years to win Special Teams Player of the Year honours after Dominique Dorsey won the award with Toronto back in 2008. Dorsey elected to try his luck down south with the Washington Redskins in his option year, but he was subsequently cut and returned back to the CFL.
The path Owens takes could be an interesting one. He’s almost sure to get a call from south of the border, but it will be up to Owens to decide if he wants to accept it. We know what Dorsey did and he managed to find his way back to the CFL. Larry Taylor – who was the top CFL special teamer in 2009 – came back to Montreal after he was released by the New York Jets. However, Montreal released Taylor days before this year’s Eastern Final.
What separates Owens from the ones before him is his offensive prowess and that would be sorely missed next year if he failed to remain in Double Blue. But that possibility seems highly unlikely. Owens is all class, an all-round athlete and highly deserving of his nomination for what was an incredible breakout season for the Flyin’ Hawaiian.
