Johany Jutras/CFL.ca
After not playing for over a year Chad Owens had forgotten what the morning after a football game felt like.
It didn’t take long for the memories to return for the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ receiver.
“My body is still adjusting,” said Owens, who led all receivers with nine catches for 114 yards and a touchdown in Saskatchewan’s 37-12 win over the Montreal Alouettes last weekend.
“I was pretty sore after this past game. I didn’t get hit as much in Calgary, but this weekend I had a lot more touches. I got hit a lot more. I enjoyed it, but you forget quickly how your body reacts after a game. I felt it.”
Owens played 12 games for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats last year before his season was cut short by a foot injury. The 35-year-old signed with the Riders as a free agent in February, but the injury kept him off the roster for the first 14 games.
He finally returned to action on Oct. 20 and had five catches for 78 yards in a 30-7 upset of the Calgary Stampeders.
The Calgary game was sort of a test run.
Chad Owens plays in his first game in over a year in a Week 18 Saskatchewan win in Calgary. He finished the game with a solid 78 yards receiving (The Canadian Press).
Chad Owens: “When you go through things like this, and the game is taken from you for an extended period of time, you just realize how fortunate you area to be able to be playing a game as your profession, you realize how much you actually miss it and love it.”
“I didn’t want to go out there and try and do too much,” said the Honolulu native. “I just wanted to let the game come. I had three weeks of practice prior to that game. I was feeling pretty confident going in, but game speed is something totally different.
“I just stayed within a level and tried to be as good as I could. This past week I just let it all go.”
Owens was hobbled when he broke his fifth metatarsal, the long bone on the outside of the foot that connects to the little toe. He had surgery to put a screw in the bone in his right foot.
His injury — called a Jones fracture — occurred in a small area of the fifth metatarsal that receives less blood and sometimes causes difficulties in healing.
“It’s been a long road,” said Owens. “I didn’t expect it to be that long and take that long to get back to 100 per cent, but it did.”
B.C. Lions’ cornerback Ronnie Yell suffered a similar injury late last season but returned in time for training camp. Owens reached out to Yell for some advice.
“Everyone is different,” said Owens. “My injury unfortunately took a little bit longer.
“Being the position I play, my feet are what allow me to go. I needed that to be 100 per cent right before I was ready to go.”
Being forced to watch from the sidelines, especially when the Riders started the year 1-3, wasn’t easy for someone as competitive as Owens.
“That’s definitely tough when you see your brothers going out there, going to battle each and every day, grinding it out,” he said. “Not being able to be out there hurts. It’s just one of the things you deal with.”
His forced absence also showed the nine-year veteran how much he loves the game.
Chad Owens in his second game of the season vs. Montreal, leading all receivers in the process (Johany Jutras/CFL.ca).
“When you go through things like this, and the game is taken from you for an extended period of time, you just realize how fortunate you area to be able to be playing a game as your profession,” said Owens. “You realize how much you actually miss it and love it.”
Some doubts swirled in Owens head during the long recovery. Would he ever be healthy again? Had he lost a step?
“Anyone that has gone through some kind of major adversity, you start to think ‘man, is this ever going to get right?” he said, “You have to question those things. That’s why you have the positive people in your life.
“I tried to work as hard as I could and do as much as I could without injuring it more. Once I started to feel it turn, I started to kick everything up. Last week it showed.”
The Riders (10-7) have a chance to control their playoff destiny when they host the Edmonton Eskimos (11-6) Saturday at Mosaic Stadium. A win gives the Riders third place in the West Division and would send them to Winnipeg to play the Blue Bombers in the West semi-final on Nov. 12.
The Riders have won four of their last five games, but no one is satisfied with the team’s performance.
“We’re not feeling good about ourselves,” Owens said. “We still need to get better, especially in the playoffs.
“This is where you have to play our best ball. I just feel like our best ball is ahead of us. In Calgary, I think that was an example of how we really can be.
That’s the type of game we need to play this week against Edmonton and going into the playoffs.”
Owens, seen here in 2012, is looking for his third Grey Cup ring and on that could match a magical campaign where he was named CFL MOP en route to an Argos Grey Cup (The Canadian Press).
“Winning a championship, getting a ring is great,” said Owens. “That’s the goal.
It was during his six years with Toronto the five-foot-eight, 180-pound Owens established his reputation as a dangerous weapon catching passes or fielding kicks. He caught 572 passes for over 5,300 yards and 21 touchdowns. Added to that were 360 punt returns for just over 4,000 yards and six touchdowns plus 237 kickoff returns for 5,300 yards and one touchdown.
Owens was the CFL’s Most Outsanding Player in 2012 and was part of the Argonaut team that beat Calgary for the Grey Cup. He was the league’s outstanding special teams player in 2010 and a four-time CFL all-star.
On a personal level Owens would love to win another Grey Cup, but what would mean even more is helping Rider quarterback Kevin Glenn celebrate his first championships after 17 years in the league.
“Winning a championship, getting a ring is great,” said Owens. “That’s the goal.
“For me its about Kevin Glenn and his long career. The man deserves a ring. That’s where my focus is.”
