Quotes from Chad Owens

Thank you to Tombo for finding and sending me this article link!

http://www.buccaneers.com/news/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=5864

About returning punts, Chad Owens said:
“I’m not just hungry for it, I’m starving; I want it." (Buccaneers.com)

“In college I just felt something inside that was like, ‘Man, I’m not getting stopped. I’m going to take this thing to the house.’ All great returners do that. You look at Devin Hester and what he did last year. Man, he just was hitting it. He was hitting it. And the rest of the unit started knowing that this guy could break it at any time, so that made them want to get their blocks down that much more. That’s what I’m hoping to accomplish here.

My work ethic, my drive – that’s my motivation; that’s all I’ve got. And I’m just excited because I want to get my career started.” (Buccaneers.com)

Bucs Note: "It shows. Owens is obsessed with all phases of his game, physical and mental. Nearly every day, he’s traversing the corridors of One Buc Place as he makes his way from the practice fields where he works on speed, conditioning and agility to the weight room. His lunchtime conversations revolve around the optimal nutritional approach for his goals. And he makes it a point to occasionally watch tape of his record-setting returns in Hawaii just to keep those runs at the forefront of his mind."


Looking forward to the season, Chad said:
“I can tell you this. Right now I feel great, mentally, physically and I just can’t wait to go out there and get this thing rolling. I want to get my career started. I believe it’s going to happen here, and I just can’t wait for it.” (Buccaneers.com)


About his experience in Jacksonville and using that to make himself better, Chad said:
“Because of my size, I came into the league projected as a return man only. And when I went to Jacksonville I did some good things as a receiver throughout the preseason, but I wasn’t having my best games. In this league, no one is going to wait for you to become the player you want to be. But I am going to take what I learned in Jacksonville – my two years there – and make myself better here. I think just the experience alone, being in the league and coming up on my third year, I can say now that I know exactly what I need to do out there on the field.” (Buccaneers.com)


About how he's fearless as a returner, Chad said:
“As far as punt returns, that’s where I think I’ve separated myself in a way that you’ve got to kind of be fearless. You’ve also got to have confidence in your unit. You’ve got to know that the hold-up guys are going to hold up the flyers, not let them off the line, and then you’re going to have a lot of room to catch the ball. You’ve got to be smart back there. You’ve got to know when you can make a play, and you’ve got to be smart sometimes and know to fair-catch some.

On the kickoff, you’ve just got to pick your spot. You’ve got to set the coverage team up, and when you decide to go, you’ve got to go; you’ve got to hit it because you can’t have any type of hesitation. You’ve got this big wall of people coming down and closing in on you. The more you try and go lateral, that window closes. The next thing you know, you’ve got nowhere to go. During a kickoff return, you’ve just got to believe in your return unit. You go with the blocking scheme. Sometimes you’ll find your own way, and that’s when your natural ability takes over, but you’ve just got to hit it, man.” (Buccaneers.com)


About how no Buccaneer has ever returned a kickoff for a TD in the regular season, Chad said:
“That’s a lot of motivation in and of itself. That’s one of my goals. That’s up there on the list of goals – to go ahead and take one to the house. I’d love to just get it started against New England and from there take it to the regular season.” (Buccaneers.com)