Feature article on Chad Owens

TS = Toronto Star


About being penalized for having their WRs pretend to paddle a canoe  after his second TD, Chad Owens laughed and said:
"I was trying to get back to Hawaii, but I got stopped short. We hit some current, some big waves on the way, a couple of red flags . . ." (TS)


TS Note: "Less than two months ago, Owens was indeed quite prepared to go back to Hawaii — by more conventional means — and maybe even walk away from football. The Alouettes had decided that Owens was strictly a kick returner and wanted to cut his salary accordingly. Owens balked and Argo head coach Jim Barker wasted no time in making a trade for him."


TS Note: "But the fact he became the first Argo receiver this season to top the 100-yard mark (163 to be exact) and piled up a total of 291 yards of offence doesn't come close to telling the whole story. His timing was as big a factor as anything. He electrified the crowd by turning a short outlet pass from Cleo Lemon into a 63-yard touchdown run for the game's first score. That got the Argos rolling and they never looked back."


About how he tried to provide a spark for their team, Owens said:
"I tried to be that fire for us. I tried to be the energy to keep everybody up and it showed in our performance from top to bottom." (TS)


Asked if he took extra satisfaction for getting 163 receiving yards against the team that didn't want him as a receiver this season, Owens said:
"That's long gone. It's nothing about trying to get back at them." (TS)


Happy to be used as a WR in addition to a returner, Owens said:
"It's something for me, personally, that I always believed I could do. You look at my size and you think, just a returner. I look at myself as a playmaker. Every player on this team should. I'm just happy to have the opportunity to play receiver here. I'm just trying to ride this canoe as long as I can." (TS)


About how they want to take advantage of Owens' game-breaking ability, QB Lemons said:
"Chad is one of those guys who's a big-play guy. And we feel that whenever we can get him out in space we need to take advantage of it." (TS)

http://www.thestar.com/article/848202--diminutive-owens-stands-tall-on-argo-offence