Chad Owens has always defied the odds.

He was born six weeks early and weighed only 3 pounds — lucky even to survive.

Coming out of Roosevelt High School in 2001, he was overlooked as a 5-foot-7 receiver, and barely made the University of Hawaii football team as a walk-on, filling the last roster spot.

As a sixth-round draft pick in 2005, he was an NFL afterthought — barely getting a taste of the league before being cut.

In 2008, he went to Colorado of the Arena League to keep his career going, only to tear an ACL and face the likelihood of retirement.

Still, he persevered, working tirelessly to rehab his knee.

For all that effort, the best he could do was a 2009 practice roster agreement with the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League. He was paid all of $400 a week.

With a wife and three kids to support, and at 28 years old, it seemed like an obvious decision to finally move on to the next phase of his life. But Owens still wouldn’t let his football dreams die, and with the support of his family he gave it one last try when he was traded from Montreal to the Toronto Argonauts in 2010 for a fourth-round draft pick.

This time he would not be denied. He was named the Argos’ primary kick returner and ran with that opportunity, becoming a unanimous choice as the league’s most outstanding special teams player while getting some playing time at wide receiver. The next season he played a more important role in the team’s offense, with 70 catches for 722 yards.

This year, he took his game to an even higher level, becoming the focal point of the Toronto attack, while still maintaining his status as the league’s most dangerous return man.

By the end of the regular season, he had racked up a CFL-record 3,863 all-purpose yards, including a league-leading 1,328 yards receiving on 94 catches.

On Thursday night, at a gala awards ceremony ahead of the today’s Grey Cup league championship game between Toronto faces Calgary, Owens was named the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player.

"I just feel blessed that I’ve had multiple opportunities," said Owens, who is the first player in the history of professional football to gain 3,000 all-purpose yards in three straight seasons. "A lot of people get one shot at a professional career. After that, you’re done. I’ve had multiple opportunities, so I’m very thankful for that. I knew I just needed the right opportunity. And everything came through when I got here to Toronto."

The Grey Cup is Canada’s Super Bowl, with an intense media glare all week long leading up to the game and millions of television viewers tuning in come kickoff on Sunday.

Like the Super Bowl, the host sites are predetermined, moving from city to city each year. This year, it’s Toronto’s turn, and as this country’s largest city and media capital, the attention is even greater than usual, especially with the hometown Argonauts in the game and this being the Grey Cup’s 100th anniversary.

As the Argos’ biggest star, Owens has become the face of this year’s Grey Cup. He’s even moved beyond the realm of sports, featured prominently on national TV newscasts and profiled on the front pages of newspapers.

No matter how intense the spotlight, his honest humility is what always shines through the most — and it’s why the man affectionately known here as "The Flyin’ Hawaiian" is so universally loved and respected by Canadians.

"I knew that I was having a good year, but I could have done so much better, so much better. I remember so many plays that I missed," said Owens, who on Monday was also named the league’s offensive player of the week, after a club-playoff-record 207 yards on 11 receptions in the Argonauts’ 27-20 win over Montreal in the East Division final on Sunday. The win advanced Toronto to the Grey Cup for the first time since 2004.

"But you know what, since we’re talking about me right now I can say that, but where we are now as a team, it really wouldn’t matter what kind of season I had personally. If it still ended up with this opportunity to play for the Grey Cup, that’s all that matters."

As for the game, all eyes will be on the 180-pound Owens. When asked about facing Toronto, the first two words out of Calgary head coach John Hufnagel’s mouth were "Chad Owens."

"Chad Owens is who he is," said Hufnagel, a former star himself in the CFL who won three Grey Cups as a player and was the Stampeders’ head coach when they last won the title in 2008. "He’s just a tremendous player offensively and in the return game. It’s going to be a great challenge. I don’t think we’re going to be able to contain (Owens and the Toronto offense). We’ve got to be able to score a lot of points offensively to have a chance to win this game."

Owens knows that with so much riding on his shoulders there’s a lot of pressure to produce. He insists he’ll be ready.

"Without a doubt this will be the biggest game of my life," he said. "It’s going to be all or nothing. It’s one game for the rest of your life."

Owens was a three-sport letter-winner starring in football, basketball and track at Roosevelt, before getting his chance to shine at UH, where in 2004 he became the Warriors’ all-time leader in all-purpose yards and claimed the Mosi Tatupu Award as U.S. college football’s top special-teams player.

"When I think back on my time there, I mean, playing in Hawaii was some of the funnest times in my life — the fans, the way they embrace you. I miss that Aloha Stadium. I always believed I’d be back playing there in a Pro Bowl. I wasn’t able to, but I’ve got a lot of fans back home and I just want to let them know that, hey, I’m still doing what I do, and even better than what I’ve done in college."

Ever aware of his status as a role model, he said he had a message he wanted the youngsters of Hawaii to hear, especially those who dream of having a career in football.

"When I was in college, I had no idea what the CFL was — no idea," he said. "What this is doing is for some of the kids back home, opening up their eyes and they can see that maybe if the NFL doesn’t work out, I can go to the CFL and be like Chad, or whatever the case may be. Never sell yourself short. Never think that it’s over. If you want it, go get it. Go work for it and you can achieve it."