not for long

That was fast. Chad Owens, 5'7" punt return guy from Hawaii (where he was a walk on) was drafted in the 6th round by the Jaguars. He's a little guy, but he was considered one of the best return guys in college. He came to camp and just lit it up. He had a great preseason. He did well as a return guy and could run great pass routes. The guy got open and caught the ball. He quickly became a crowd favorite. He beat out David Allen, the old punt return guy, for a job. My son was waiting for the Chad Owens jersey to show up in stores and wanted one for Christmas.

Then, in the last preseason game, he muffed a punt. He was inactive in the first regular season game, but when the team went to Indy, he was there...and he returned punts...sort of. He dropped two and bobbled one, none of which, by sheer dumb luck, resulted in turnovers but none of which resulted in big returns either. He didn't field a single one cleanly, and after those three, he wasn't given a shot at a fourth.

Monday, he's outa here. The team cut him yesterday. The word is they want to sign him to the practice squad, but his dream of being a big time NFL punt return guy and sometimes wide receiver is temporarily derailed.

NFL really does stand for 'not for long'.