Owens returns to his roots

Chad Owens marvels at the mention of the number. "It’s weird when you say that," Owens says, "10 years." Nearly a decade has indeed passed since Owens claimed a place in Hawaii football lore on a surreal afternoon at Aloha Stadium.

The redshirt freshman had emerged as a dynamic kickoff and punt returner over the fall of 2001. But it was in the season finale against BYU when "Chad Owens became Chad Owens."

Sprinting through gaps blasted opened by the UH return team, Owens took the opening kickoff 64 yards along the mauka sideline to set the tone for the day.

He continually topped himself in a wild first quarter, returning a punt 74 yards for a score and later taking a kickoff 100 yards. When UH completed the 72-45 rout, Owens had covered an NCAA-record 349 yards on returns.

Now almost 10 years — and some tough life lessons — later, he’s doing much the same thing, just quite a bit farther north.

Last month, Owens, a receiver/kick returner with the Toronto Argonauts, became the first player in professional football to post back-to-back seasons of at least 3,000 all-purpose yards. The Roosevelt graduate enters Toronto’s final game of the season leading the Canadian Football League in combined return yards with 2,609.

"I’m very humbled and very honored and fortunate to be in this situation," he said. "To have teammates and coaches who believe in me and allow me to go out there and play the game the way I know I can play.

"I just hope I can be a light in some young kid’s eyes knowing you can reach your goals no matter what, just continue to strive for it no matter what happens. No matter how many times you fall, you keep getting back up and you just keep coming back."

Owens had fallen a few times after closing his UH career in 2004 as the school’s all-time all-purpose yardage leader.

He was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2005, but played sparingly in stints marked by untimely fumbles. After the Jaguars waived him, a comeback attempt was "shattered" by a torn ACL while playing arena football in 2008 and, a year later, he headed to Canada.

After a brief look with Montreal, Owens was sent to Toronto in 2010 where he became … well, Chad Owens, again.

He was named the CFL’s top special teams player last year as the league’s leader in return yards. This year, he’s scored on a kickoff and a punt return and increased his production of offense (70 catches for 722 yards) after moving to slot receiver.

"Mentally, I was weak early in my pro career," Owens said. "Mentally I just crashed and it just showed on the field. Now I’ve transitioned and I’m focused just on playing the game and enjoying the game regardless of where I’m at. NFL, AFL, CFL, it doesn’t matter. I’m happy I’m playing the game I love.

"Everybody’s journey is different. I’m fortunate and blessed to still be on this journey. I’ve had multiple opportunities to get on teams and play football, I’m very thankful for that. A lot of guys get one shot and that’s it, they have to move on to the next chapter in their life."

At 29, Owens feels he has a lot of mileage left as he finishes just his second season of full-time action since leaving UH. He turned down a chance to try out with the New York Jets earlier this year, and another shot at the NFL isn’t high among his current priorities.

"After I looked at the big picture, (the decision) became easy," he said. "It became very clear and I’m where I belong."

At 5-12, the Argonauts are well out of the playoff chase and close the season Thursday against Hamilton after knocking off East division leader Winnipeg last week.

Owens plans to return to Hawaii with his wife, Rena, and three children next week. Among his offseason plans is a return to Aloha Stadium when UH closes the regular season against BYU on Dec. 3, the Cougars’ first visit since Owens’ breakout performance.

"A lot of people I bump into say, ‘Chad, I remember that BYU game,’ " Owens said. "That’s the game that sticks in people’s minds. That’s the game that jump-started my college career.

"It was an awesome day."