Texas Tech Safety Tyler Owens Said He Doesn't Believe In Space In His NFL Combine Interview
I prefer my athletes to be a bit crazy. Football (American) is a psychotic sport. It's encourages the strongest, fastest, most scary people in the world to run full-speed into one another in an effort to take their opponents heads off. I suppose nowadays NFL does their whole concussion protocol, we care about player safety thing. But still, it's highly dangerous, and with the exception of quarterbacks who are protected by federal law, if you're going to succeed in the sport you need to put your body on the line every play. To be willing to do that I think it helps to be a little nuts.
Although to be fair to Tyler Owens, the man makes a valid point about how other people have made valid points.
Tyler Owens: “I thought I used to believe in the heliocentric thing where we used to revolve around the sun and stuff. But then I started seeing flat earth stuff and I was like, this is kind of interesting. They started bringing up valid points, so I mean I don’t know, could be real, couldn’t be.”
What were those points exactly? Unimportant. Did he simply watch one Kyrie Irving's video game streams and think, "This seems like one sharp cookie. I'm gonna ride with this guy." Who cares. The crazier the better. He's made up his mind that space isn't real and he's willing to die on that hill.
I actually think this is a brilliant move by Tyler Owens. He's the #19 ranked safety on the PFF big board. According to nfldraftbuzz.com, which sounds like it could potentially be a reputable source, he's projected to be drafted 'UFA' (i.e. not drafted at all). But now he's on our radar. Now, when you Google Tyler Owens, you'll find multiple articles written about the man's refusal to believe in basic science. Which brings me to my more important point. When you click on almost any of those articles or tweets, along with his "space isn't real" quote, you'll find a sentence that goes something like, "Tyler Owens, who is expected to run the fastest 40 at the combine....
Daily Mail - Texas Tech defensive back, who is a favorite to post the fastest time for the 40-yard dash, made sure to stand out from other college football stars with his comments and beliefs.
Fox Sports - Texas Tech defensive back Tyler Owens, who's a favorite to post the quickest 40-yard dash at the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine and is widely considered to be one of the fastest prospects in the 2024 NFL Draft class
Did you know that before Tyler decided to talk about space? Probably not. But now you do. Now the public line on Tyler Owens is, "The crazy guy who doesn't believe in space and is the fastest prospect in the draft."
That sounds like a guy I'd take a flier on. If you told me the Colts could grab him with their last pick, I'd be fully on board. Even if we didn't need a safety. Fuck it, he's fast and he might be good for some funny quotes. That's not a bad player to pick up in the 6th or 7th round. Maybe he's crazy enough to work.
I think Tyler Owens may just have gotten himself drafted. He went from complete obscurity, to slightly less obscure. That's progress. It almost makes me question if he's making the whole thing up. Perhaps he's not crazy at all. This whole thing could be a well-orchestrated PR stunt. But that would make him more smart than crazy, and I don't know if I like that. If you're smart enough to execute this type of PR move, are you going to be dumb enough to sellout for a head-on collision with Saquon Barkley barreling down on you in the open field? Hard to say.
Also, if you look up his highlights on YouTube, the only thing that's available is this "highlight package" of Owens playing against BYU. A video in which he does absolutely nothing. I don't know who's girlfriend Tyler Owens slept with, but this video can only be the work of a man who's actively trying to end his football career.
Hopefully he's fast and crazy enough to overcome it. I'm pulling for the guy. He's running the 40-yard dash today, and I'm sure people will be watching now.